Past Spirits
by Freaky-Spork Productions
Summary: After an attempt to find Nagas' 'perfect host' fails, Cheresea and company find themselves stuck with a strange, but rather familiar bunch. What could possibly go wrong? Collab with freakyanimegal456 and Holy Spork.
1. Blast from the Past

Freaky: Hi folks! Welcome to our collab story! This first chapter is by Holy Spork! WOOT WOOT!

Cheresea:...I'm not going to comment...

Spork: (-blushing-) It's an honor to work with such a popular writer.

Disclaimer: Freakyanimegal456 and Holy Spork do not have legal rights to Tales of Symphonia, its characters, plot line, or

locations, as Bandai-Namco does. But Freaky owns her various OCs, and Holy Spork has a handful of semi-OCs.

* * *

**Past Spirits**

**Chapter 1: Blast from the Past**

**-Kratos' P.O.V.**

As Yuan and I watched, Mithos brutally laid waste to his little kingdom. Then he giggled with glee as his colored letter blocks

scattered. I think this is supposed to be some kind of sign of what he'll be like when he grows up, but I don't know. I guess this is

how all three-year-olds have fun. To Yuan and me, it was... kinda boring.

"Yuan, tell me why I'm here again."

"'Cuz I don't know anything about kids," Yuan confessed, "And you have, what, about a million cousins?"

"If you don't know anything about kids, why'd you agree to babysit Martel's baby brother?"

"'Cuz she likes guys who are good with kids."

"But you aren't. And neither am I."

Yuan rolled his eyes, "Just help me out."

I looked back at Mithos, who was trying to spell 'dmsnelxiw' with his colored blocks.

"It's not like he needs looking after," Yuan continued, "Once he has his blocks he's fine."

"Martel would skin both of us if we left Mithos alone," I pointed out, shuddering a little, "He is only three years old."

Yuan made a face, "Since when did you care about stuff like rules?"

"Since mad half-elves started threatening me with bodily harm," I said, recalling the many 'punishments' I'd received from angry

half-elves over the years.

"Don't call Martel mad!" blurted Yuan defensively, "She just cares about her baby brother!"

I grinned, "Sure, whatever you say."

Yuan pouted and looked back at Mithos, who seemed to be having the time of his life. I wasn't going to let Yuan off the hook just

yet. It was too fun to mess with him when he was thinking of his girlfriend.

"YUAN AND MARTEL SITTIN' IN A TREE! F – U – OW!"

I glared at Yuan.

"You can't swear like that with a three-year-old around!" Yuan shouted, "What if it scars him for life?"

"I wasn't even swearing! I was spelling!"

"It's the same thing!"

"No it's not, Mithos can't even read yet!"

"Just shut up before I have to choke you with one of Mithos' blocks."

"Silly!" Mithos giggled at us.

How... damn, what's the word? Oh yeah... humiliating.

"Okay... fine..." I crossed my arms across my chest, "Mad half-elf..." I added under my breath.

"Stupid human," muttered Yuan.

We went back to watching Mithos, and Mithos went back to playing with his blocks. Nothing interesting happened for several

minutes. Then I started to hear this weird buzzing noise. I looked around the small room, but the noise didn't seemed to be coming

from anything.

"Hey, Kratos, you okay?" Yuan looked concerned.

"Do you hear that?" I asked, still trying to figure out where the sound was coming from, "That weird noi – "

_**ZAP!**_

There was a loud noise like the world's largest thunderclap, followed by a blinding flash of light. Up and down disappeared as I

seemed to float in a mass of light.

Then I flew into something that was far too solid for comfort.

"Ow..." I moaned.

"Oh my – !" I heard a voice gasp. It sounded like a woman.

"Oh no..." A second voice moaned. This one did sound kind of vaguely familiar.

"Are they okay?" the woman's voice asked, "Are they who I think they are?"

Huh? Did these people know us?

With more effort that I expected, I opened my eyes. Yuan was lying next to me, apparently unconscious. Mithos was by his feet,

making sad whimpering noises. I felt bad for the kid. I sat up, and stopped as the world started spinning. I felt someone put a hand

on my shoulder. I looked up and saw...

...Yuan?

"Can you tell me your name and age?" asked the Yuan look-alike.

"Uh..." I blinked, waiting for the world to turn right side up again, "My name's Kratos. I'm seventeen."

The Yuan look-alike swore. Just who was this guy anyway? Fancy gold-trimmed armor... cape... blue ponytail...

"It seems that the others will be fine as well." I turned at the sound of the voice, and saw a woman with silver hair kneeling down

by Mithos, apparently trying to comfort the poor kid. She seemed kinda big around the middle, I think she's pregnant.

"Um... who are you people, how did I get here, and where am I?" I asked.

"I think," started the Yuan-look alike, "The question you should be asking is 'when am I'."

I stared, wondering if I had heard him wrong. "Huh?"

"We'll have to tell the others, Yuan," said the woman.

"...Yuan?" I looked back at the look-alike... the other Yuan, "Just who are you people?"

"Ugh..." moaned the Yuan I knew, "My head... did Martel throw a frying pan at me again?"

"No," I told him, "I don't think so anyway."

Yuan sat up, rubbing his eyes, "Then what happened?"

"Hi, I'm Mithos!" chirped Mithos to the woman, who seemed to have successfully calmed the little kid down, "Whut's your

name?"

"...I'm Raine," said the woman.

Mithos looked over at the caped Yuan, "Who the other lady?" he asked, pointing.

"...Lady?" Then the other Yuan looked absolutely furious, "Why you little – !"

Mithos flinched at the other Yuan's anger.

"Hey!" said the real Yuan, "Leave him alone!"

"You should know better than to yell at a toddler!" scolded Raine.

"But he's the founder of Cruxis!" protested the other Yuan, "If it wasn't for him countless lives could have been saved – !"

The other Yuan took a deep, steadying breath. The real Yuan and I looked at each other.

"What is he ranting about?" I asked the real Yuan. He shrugged.

"I have some bad news for you three," said Raine, giving the other Yuan a disapproving glance before turning back to us, "Yuan

and I were experimenting and it turns out that, instead of finding the individual we were looking for, we brought you three out of

your time, and into the future."

Yuan and me exchanged another look.

"And Yuan here," Raine indicated the other Yuan with a wave of her hand, "Is you," she pointed to the real Yuan, "In the future."

It took us a moment to digest this. Mithos didn't seem to understand this at all, so he crawled off. I think I might have been the only

one that noticed, but I didn't really care. We had been dragged into _the future_?

"It can't be all that bad," said the real Yuan, "I mean, we're only, what, about ten years in the future, right? It can't be that hard to

send us back."

The other Yuan opened his mouth to say something, when the door to the room we were in slammed open. A girl that looked like

a female clone of Yuan walked in, giving the other Yuan a cold glare with her gray eyes.

"Father," she started, "Jeremy is being completely stubborn and won't - "

The female Yuan cloned spotted us. She stopped and raised an eyebrow.

"Father," she started again, "What did you do?"

The real Yuan looked back at the other Yuan and sputtered, "F-father?!"

Wait a minute... Yuan has a kid? Er... going to have a kid? He must've finally gotten together with Martel.

Lucky bastard.

* * *

Cheresea: O.O HOLY-! 

Freaky: This will be fun, don't you agree, Holy Spork? You did a great job. n.n

Young Kratos: Fun, the madwoman says... _fun_... -.-'

Spork: Next chapter is Freaky's turn. Remember, reviews are always appreciated. :)


	2. Nice to meet you again

**Freaky: YEEHAW! Chappie two, lil' doggies!**

**Cheresea:...Did you switch personalities with Malk...?**

**Young Kratos: ...Should I ask?**

**Holy Spork: No, I think your head would explode. And freaky and I own nothing but our OCs. M'kay? **

_Past Spirits_

_Chapter Two: Nice to meet you...again._

_-Cheresea's P.O.V_

"OOF!"

I muttered several bad words as I got back up on my feet, spitting the dirt out of my mouth. Geez...that hurt...

"Come on, Dad!" I whined. "That was a cheap shot!!"

Dad smirked at me, making him look creepily like Grampa, actually, as he held the training sword out in front of him again.

"No, you just suck at blocking," he grinned, "Now come on...get up."

I muttered some more as I got onto my feet. Dad's really been working me hard lately, which I can understand, really, because of

what's going on and all...but it still wasn't exactly fair. He's bossing me around like- ...well, okay, I know he's my Dad and all, but I

thought my parents were DEAD until a few months ago... I just didn't think it was really fair that he just popped up and suddenly

he's the boss...

"I suck?!" I snapped, flushing. "Fine then! I'll show you something SO great! You'll remember it even after the bruises are gone!"

Dad smirked again, "Okay, then bring it!"

I went for him again and I lasted about ten seconds...before I hit the ground again. He was whupping me...and he wasn't even

using two swords!! Dammit...

"Oh come OOOONNN Cheresea, you can do better than THAT."

I swear, if Mom wouldn't get upset I'd say a good few words right now-

"You two."

I looked up from my oh so COZY spot on the ground (Damn pine cones) to see Chala standing in our pathway-

...Oh shit, Chala...

"..." she looked at me and raised an eyebrow.

Oh no oh no-

"You scrounging for worms?" she smirked. "Don't they feed you?"

I blushed.

"Shut up-!!" I snapped.

"Chala? What are you doing here?" Dad asked.

"There's a...situation, we need you in the Triet base." she said.

"Huh? ...What sort of situation...?" Dad frowned.

"I'll explain once we get there, where's Kratos?" she asked.

"Grampa? ...Where IS he?" I asked Dad.

"Uh..." he rubbed the back of his neck.

Dammit, Dad, where'd Grampa go this time!? He's been doing this for weeks...he'd better not be doing something stupid,

though...it really isn't like him to do that... Dad is the stupid one, I forget...

"Someone call me?"

"Grampa!" I grinned.

Grampa looked at me, then Dad, then at Chala before stepping forward.

"Is something wrong, Chala?" he asked.

"...Father wants you and Lloyd at the Triet Base," Chala said, looking more serious than usual, "Immediately."

"What happened?" I asked.

"None of your business," she glared at me.

I twitched.

"Hey-!! You could at least tell me-!!"

"No. Why don't you try to dig up some night crawlers?"

Why that...

"...Cheresea, tell your Mom where we're going, okay?" Dad asked me.

"What?" I moaned, "You're leaving me here?"

Apparently, that was a yes.

"HEY-!!" I snapped. "YOU JERKS-!!"

They had left! THEY HAD LEFT WHILE I WAS TALKING! Grr...I swear, sometimes I wish it was just me and Grampa again,

then I wouldn't get ditched by everyone...just him every now and then.

Noishe whined.

"...Tell Mom where we went, okay?" I smiled.

Noishe whined again, glaring at me.

"What? She can understand you still, can't she?"

Noishe growled.

"Well, you're smart, you'll find out how," I grinned, then ran off.

Noishe made an exasperated, sighing sound.

Hm...deja vu...

Once I finally got to the base (I had to...um, 'borrow' Mom's rheaird...I'm just glad Dad refueled them this time...) I walked in to

find it...bizarrely empty. Weren't there usually some Renegades walking around? And I couldn't find Dad or Grampa

anywhere...something funny's going on here-

"OH SHIT OH SHIT-!!"

"Huh?" I turned to look down a hallway-

BASH!

...I'm really getting acquainted with gravity today, aren't I?

"Ow-!!" I yelped, "Watch where you're-!!"

Then my jaw dislocated.

"GRAMPA!?" I shrieked.

"Huh-?!"

The person who ran into me stopped and stared. He looked EXACTLY like Grampa... but no, he's too young... what the hell-?!

"Grampa?" he raised an eyebrow. "...Who the hell are you?"

Well, he asked...

"Give me your name and I'll give you mine!" I grinned.

The guy twitched.

"That's my line!"

...What?

"No it's not! If it's anyone's line, it's my Dad's!" I snapped.

"No way! I made that up years ago!" he snapped back.

"My Dad made it up before you!!" I snarled.

The guy who looked like Grampa began to say something, then stopped, rubbing his forehead as he tried to calm himself down.

"Look, whatever, have you seen a little blond kid around here?"

"A blond kid?" I blinked.

"Yeah, blond, little guy, about this tall?" he put his hand at about the size of a really little kid. "Three? Kinda looks like a girl?"

"Uh...no," I said, still staring at him, "I haven't..."

He swore.

"Yuan is so gonna kill me if I don't find him..." he groaned.

Yuan?

"Uh...by 'Yuan'..." I started.

"DAMMIT! KRATOS! DID YOU FIND HIM-!?"

I turned around and almost fell down again. Oh great, now there's a male Chala running around!? What the hell?!

"Who the hell is she?" he asked, pointing at me.

"Beats me, ran into her," Grampa's look-alike shrugged.

"Literally," I muttered, glaring at him.

"Whatever," the male-Chala shrugged, "Kratos, PLEASE tell me you found the kid... Please tell me you know where he is..."

...He just called Grampa's double Kratos...

"Uh..."

"DAMN YOU, KRATOS! I SWEAR! IF WE DON'T FIND THAT KID BEFORE THOSE OTHER PEOPLE DO, I'LL

KILL YOU!!" the blue-head shouted.

"H-hey! Calm DOWN, Yuan!" 'Kratos' snapped. "It's not MY fault!!"

My brain snapped.

"...What's your problem?" 'Yuan' glared at me.

"...Kratos...and Yuan..." I whispered.

"Uh...yeah, and you are?" 'Yuan' asked.

"...Cheresea..." I said slowly.

"...'Female survivor'?" he blinked.

"I didn't choose my name!" I snapped, blushing.

"Hee hee, funny lady."

I blinked and turned around, 'Kratos' and 'Yuan' with me. There was a little blond kid smiling at us, he looked a lot like-

"Mithos!" 'Yuan' cried. "Thank Origin! There you are!"

"Hiya Yuie." he smiled.

...Mithos. Okay, that does it.

"What the HELL is going on here?!" I shrieked.

'Mithos' began to whimper, his eyes tearing up.

"Don't shout around him-!!" 'Yuan' snapped.

"You're shouting, genius," 'Kratos' pointed out.

"You shut up too, human!"

"SCAWY!" Mithos cried.

'Yuan' tried to comfort him as Kratos sighed. ...Okay, what was going on?! Okay...I have to think about this...wait! Could they be

clones-? No wait, no...because then they wouldn't have the same names, like Lerek didn't...

"There you three are!!"

I looked up, expecting another heart attack... Oh good, it's just the Professor-...then again...no, that's not nice...

"We TOLD you not to run off!!" Raine roared.

The trio yelped and Mithos started to cry again.

"H-hey-! I had to find-!" 'Yuan' started.

"C'mon, Lady! You're making Mithos cry!" Kratos snapped.

"SHUT UP! I want all three of you back in that room, NOW before something goes wrong! NOW!" she demanded.

"Feh...bitch, much?" Kratos muttered.

I flinched as the Professor smacked him across the face.

"Ow-! The he-!? That was uncalled for!"

"No it wasn't, now march!" she pointed down the hall.

"But-"

"NOW!!"

The Yuan and Grampa duplicates ran off down the hall, Raine sighing as she picked up the little 'Mithos'...and looked at me.

"I figured you'd show up..." she sighed.

"...Professor...what's going on...?" I asked slowly.

"...Well you see..." she sighed, trying to comfort the sniffling toddler, "We uh...were trying to use a device to find Nagas' ideal

host...and uhm...something went wrong and these three..."

I stared.

"...They're from the past."

"..."

"Cheresea?"

"...The...past..." I trailed.

"Well...yes..."

"..."

Okay, I'm ready to wake up now.

"The PAST?! SO- so they were- that was-?!"

"Yes, now don't yell...you'll make Mithos cry again," she sighed, rocking him.

"I's tiwerd..." he mumbled.

...I know I've seen Mithos as his teenager form and all, heck, I've seen my Dad like that, but...Grampa and Yuan?! It was hard to

imagine them...well, any different then they were, really. Not to mention seeing one of your best friend's Dad's as a toddler is a little

freaky as well... Oh geez, Sari's gonna have a heart attack...

"...So..."

"Come on, I'll take you to the others," Raine sighed, walking down the hall.

...This is gonna be a hell of a day, I can tell...

Anyway, we got to this room and Yuan- as in, our Yuan- Chala, Jeremy, Dad, Grampa, and the...uh...newcomers, were. Though

I was kinda curious as to why the young Yuan was bashing his head against the wall...

"...Uh...Yuan..." my young Grampa said.

"Not now!" BASH! "I'm-" BASH! "BUSY-!" BASH!

"Giving yourself head trauma isn't gonna help us."

"Siwwy!" Mithos laughed, clapping.

Huh...he enjoys Yuan's pain...sounds like Mithos.

"Cheresea!" Dad shouted. "What are you doing here?"

"I followed," I shrugged.

I expected Grampa to scold me, but he was too busy talking with our Yuan in...is that angelic? I have no clue what they're saying...

"So uh...you saw them?" Dad nodded his head over at the...group.

"...Yeah," I nodded.

"...This is weird."

"Dad," I said, "my life has been weird since I was born."

"Er...that's true..."

Jeremy and Chala hadn't said anything to me yet, apparently Jeremy was freaking out and Chala was yelling at him for being a

chicken wuss for panicking... you know, the typical thing. I looked over and stared at...er, Kratos...

"...What are you looking at?" he asked.

"Er...um...is he okay?" I asked, pointing at...er, Young Yuan.

"Him? Oh sure, he gives himself brain damage every Thursday," he rolled his eyes, "It's his weekly ritual, does it all the time."

"...He does?" I asked.

Kratos stared at me.

"...You're kinda ditzy, aren't you?"

I twitched.

"Hey-!!" I snapped.

"Calm down, Cheresea," Dad said, "Even though he's an ASS-"

"Don't swear around the child!" Raine scoffed, pointing at Mithos.

"...Professor, that 'child' is...well...you know..."

Mithos was currently grinning as he tore up some tissue paper, laughing somewhat...well, maniacally as he shredded it.

"...Mithos," I finished.

"Yeah, Mithos," Dad sighed.

Kratos glared at us a minute, then went back to watching Young Yuan bash his head against the wall...

"..."

This is going to be a REALLY long day...

**Freaky: There we go! n.n Was that amusing enough?**

**Cheresea: You really like making me fall down, don't you...?**

**Spork: Its an endearing trait you inherited from your mother. Of course it's going to pop up a lot. Hehe...**

**Young Kratos: ...I seriously think I'm the last of the sane. **


	3. That Explains Nothing

Spork: Here we are again. Sorry for the shortness of the chapter.

Young Kratos: I like it. It means I have to endure less of this.

Freaky: Aw man, come on Spork! That means I have to make the next chapter long! T.T

Cheresea: I thought you liked long chapters...? Whatever, no one owns anything!

* * *

**Past Spirits**

**Chapter Three: That Explains Nothing**

**-Young Kratos' P.O.V**

Yuan is still bashing away. Everyone else is either talking about us or staring at us. It's starting to creep me out...

"Am I awake yet?" Yuan asked, apparently aware that he wouldn't like my answer.

"No," I said, deciding to let him hope that there was a chance that he was only sleeping.

"Damn..."

Yuan groaned and slumped against the wall he had been bashing his head against. I looked over at where the other Yuan and

that... guy are talking. Weird, that other person kinda looks like...

"Doesn't that guy over there kinda look like you?" Yuan said.

Obviously he had enough intact brain cells left to form a complete sentence.

"No," I said stiffly, "Since when have I ever looked like I was possessed by a demon?"

I was talking about the man's eyes: the pupils were slitted, like a snake's eyes.

Yuan blinked, "You mean you aren't possessed?"

I kicked him. "Shut your face."

"Ow..."

"Are you two... always like this?" asked the auburn-haired girl, the ditzy one. I think someone said her name was Cheresea.

"If you think we're bad," I started, "You should see what Martel is capable of when she's mad at us and armed with a frying pan."

"..."

Cheresea didn't seem to know what to make of this.

"What?" I asked.

"Oh, nothing," she said. I shrugged and looked back down at Yuan, who seemed to be generally moping now.

Behind me, I heard Cheresea mutter, "Frying pan? Sari made Martel sound like a nice lady..."

Huh?

"You know Martel?" I asked.

Cheresea turned, she seemed surprised that I was still listening, "Uh..." she paused, "...No?" It was almost a question.

"Okay..."

I looked away again. Weird people...

The older Yuan and the other guy (finally) finished talking. Everyone else seemed to sense that the older Yuan was ready to talk

and/or explain things. They all turned to look at him, even Mithos, though maybe that was because the tissue paper he had

mysteriously gotten was now dust.

"You all came here for an explanation of... recent events," the other Yuan started, "There has been an additional complication,

and, unfortunately, it is going to take time to correct."

Everyone turned to look at me and Yuan. Obviously we were the 'additional complication'.

"These three," the older Yuan waved vaguely at me, the real Yuan, and Mithos, "Are from the past."

"Wait a minute," a man in red started, "How did you manage to yank three kids four thousand years into the future?"

"FOUR THOUSAND YEARS!?" the real Yuan and I screamed at the same time.

The other Yuan sighed, and rubbed his forehead, "I wasn't going to tell them that," he started, irritated, "For the obvious reason."

"Oh..." the man in red looked embarrassed.

"What do you mean we're four thousand years in the future?!" I yelled at the other Yuan, "That doesn't make any sense! How can

you really be the older Yuan if we're four thousand years in the future?! You should be hanging in a museum somewhere if you're

really that old!"

A muscle near the other Yuan's right eye twitched. I get the feeling he's been under some stress lately.

"That is none of your concern," the other Yuan said stiffly.

"Hell, it is!" shouted the real Yuan, "Does this mean I'm going to be immortal or something? Even elves can't live that long!"

I could have sworn that the temperature in the room dropped a few degrees. Something tells me this is a sensitive topic.

"Until Raine and Yuan can find a way to return them to their proper time," started the guy that kind of looked like me, clearly

trying to fill the void, "We will need to keep a close watch on these three. We have to make sure that Nagas does not discover

their presence here."

Everyone in the room, other than me, the real Yuan, and Mithos tensed. I think the only reason we didn't was because we were

the only ones that didn't know what the hell was going on. If only someone would _actually_ tell us something...

Yuan's daughter, Chala or whatever, looked over at us. I had the feeling that she was examining us, like a kid about to dissect a

frog. It was a disturbing look, to say the least, especially since _we_ seem to be the subject.

I would have run away as fast as I could if she had so much as used the word 'experiment' in a sentence.

"...Who's Nagas?" the real Yuan asked.

"Ignorance is bliss," said the older Yuan.

The real Yuan glared at his older self. It was kinda funny to watch. Isn't this a time paradox or something? Shouldn't the universe

implode, or is that only if they kill each other? Stupid time travel...

"Uh," started Cheresea nervously, "Nagas is – "

"They do not need to know who she is," said the guy that kind of looked like me, "All they have to know is that she is dangerous."

He's a real advocate for our ignorance isn't he?

Jerk.

"Descriptive, aren't you?" I muttered to myself, "Anything else you don't want to tell us?"

The other guy glared at me, but said nothing. He's giving me a death glare. Oooh, I'm so scared. This guy is really getting on my

nerves.

...I wonder why these people get so uptight when this 'Nagas' person is mentioned...?

"Uh..." the man in red started, "So... what exactly are we gonna do with them?"

...Still talking like we aren't here...

"Yeah, and do you think that - ...uh...Sari, should know about this...?"

We turned our attention to a kid with pink hair standing a bit behind Chala, I'd forgotten he was there seeing as he hadn't said

much after bitchy-blue smacked him for something...

"...By Sari, I'm guessing you mean her father?" the older Yuan asked him.

"Uh... yeah, Uncle Yuan..."

"UNCLE!?" the real Yuan shouted. "UNCLE!?"

Hell, next thing I'll know they'll be telling me he married that scary silver-head lady... the one giving us the 'I wonder what their

insides look like' look. Kind of like Chala...

They ignored our Yuan, though.

"Well, this does concern him..." Raine frowned.

"...All right, fine, I'll inform him," the guy who looked like he was possessed sighed, "...Lloyd, Cheresea."

"Yeah Dad?" the guy in red asked.

"Yes Grampa?" Cheresea spoke up.

...Grampa? Doesn't he look a little too young to even be... uh, 'Lloyd' I think it was... his father? Then again, he could be

should-be-a-pile-of-dust old like the older Yuan too...

Wait a second...

...Didn't Cheresea call me 'Grampa' when I ran into her...?

"I trust you two know how this situation must be handled," snake-eyes said, "...Don't tell them anything."

"But..." Lloyd trailed.

"..." Cheresea bit her lip.

"Pinky!"

"Huh?"

We looked over at Yuan's future nephew, somehow Mithos had wandered over there and was pointing at the kid's head.

"PINKY!" he giggled.

"H-hey-!!" he blushed.

I had been wondering how long it would take before a pink-hair joke would come up, actually.

"...Mmph..." the real Yuan snickered.

"Stop pointing!" the kid blushed, yelling at Mithos.

Mithos whimpered.

"Ah - ! Wait - ! No, please, don't cry - !"

_SMACK!_

"Idiot," Chala growled at him.

"OW! That hurt!"

"Shh, shh... it's okay..." Raine cooed.

Mithos whimpered some more, tears in his eyes.

"It's all right, he didn't mean it..."

"...I wan' sissy..." he blubbered.

...Did it just get cold in here again, or is it just me?

"Uh..." Cheresea smiled, it made her look more ditzy, "Don't worry, we'll get you home soon..."

"You'd better," the older Yuan glared.

The girl glared back - ...huh, looks a little familiar actually...

"Dude, she has your glare," Yuan muttered to me.

"What? Does not," I snapped.

"At any rate..." Old Yuan said, rubbing his head.

"I'll be back in a few minutes," snake-eyes said, heading for the door.

"You might as well drag Uncle Genis here too," Chala snorted. "He is the only other genius we have laying around...oh, and while

you're at it, take Jeremy back, he'll just get in the way here."

"H-hey! I will not-!!"

"Fine then," stick-in-the-mud stated.

"Hey - ! Kratos! You can't be - !"

I froze, and everyone else did too.

"...OH SHOOT-!!" Jeremy covered his mouth.

"...Yuan," I said, barely moving.

"...Yeah...?" he asked by me.

"...Tell me Pinky didn't just call him me..."

There was an eerie silence as Yuan shut up beside me, I stared at snake-eyes, who looked back at me looking as if he was going

to gut the pink-haired shrimp in another second.

Does this mean that...?

"...Wanna use the wall?" the real Yuan asked me.

* * *

Young Kratos: 00 

Spork: Yuan was right, ignorance is bliss.

Cheresea: Um...I don't think I should ask if he's okay right now...

Freaky: He'll get over it. n.n Review pwease! n.n


	4. Bad Mood and Food

**Freaky: Hi guys-!...Uh, Cheresea, what are you doing?**

**Cheresea: (Is poking Y. Kratos) Well, he's been like 'OO' for a while now...**

**Y. Kratos: OO**

**Spork: ... I pity the poor fool.  
**

_Past Spirits_

_Chapter Four: Bad Moods and Food _

_-Cheresea's P.O.V_

"...So...er..."

I paused a minute and stared, wondering if I should stop Kratos from damaging any more brain cells against the wall. I mean,

it wouldn't do good for history if he became retarded back then... He'd been doing this ever since Grampa left, taking Jeremy

with him even though the poor kid screamed for mercy. The young Yuan was watching Kratos as he abused himself, probably

thinking something along the lines of 'misery loves company'...and little Mithos was laughing.

"All right! That's enough!"

"What're you-? HEY! LET ME GO YOU SON OF A-!"

Our Yuan grabbed Kratos by the collar and yanked him away from the wall, glaring at him as the younger Yuan stared at the

little scene. Though I think he was kinda enjoying watching himself threaten his friend... Grampa and Yuan did seem to kind of

have a 'I hate you but we're best friends' thing going...

"Injuring yourself isn't going to help, stop it," he hissed, then looked at his younger self, "That goes for you too, now behave

and DEAL WITH IT."

"...Yuan, you're a prick when you get older," Kratos said.

"And you're a snake-eyed freak," he smirked.

"What-? I'll kick your girly-looking a-!"

Yuan dropped Kratos and sighed, walking over to examine the strange machine they had in the room. I watched my young

Grampa slump against the wall, moaning something about his older self as his friend rolled his eyes.

"Come on, sissy," he scoffed, "At least you don't have a bitch for a daughter..."

"No, but I've got a son with a negative I.Q. and a ditz for a grandkid."

Me and Dad twitched.

"Excuse me?" Dad growled.

"I'm not a-!" I paused. "...Okay, but it's only sometimes..."

Chala snorted.

"Shut up!" I snapped.

"Heh," she smirked at me, then turned to our...guests, "Now..."

Uh-oh. She has that look in her eyes...

"...Uh, you might want to run..." I said to Kratos and young Yuan.

"Huh? Why-?"

"ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC!"

"AH!" Dad shouted. "Not the ruin mode-!"

"Ruin what-?" Y. Yuan started.

"YOU!" Chala grabbed Kratos' collar. "TELL ME! WHAT DID IT FEEL LIKE TO COME TO ANOTHER TIME?"

"H-huh-?!" he gasped.

"WHAT WAS IT LIKE? A FLASH? A SOUND? TELL ME!"

"Chala!" Raine shouted. "No studying them!"

"W-what-?"

The look on Chala's face was kinda creepy, actually, it's weird to see Chala looking genuinely sad, much less kicked-puppy sad.

Though wouldn't she be a kicked-kitty, though? Being her spirit form and all... Oh that's just mean, a bitch like her being an

adorable little fluffy-wuffy kitty-cat-

...I didn't do that. You can prove nothing.

"You heard me," Raine glared.

"...Tch," Chala spat, releasing him.

"W-what the heck was that about?" Kratos yelped.

"Uh...Chala tends to be a little...crazy," I finished.

Chala flipped me off and then went off to sulk somewhere.

"...At least MY descendants aren't crazy," Kratos muttered.

"She did NOT get that from me!" young Yuan snapped.

"..." Dad and I just looked at them.

"Lloyd."

Dad looked over at Yuan, who had managed to stop working on the machine long enough to say something to him.

"Yeah?" he asked.

"Take the children to another room, they'll just be in the way here."

"What?!" Chala spat, "Father-!"

"You too, Chala," he glared, "This is too complicated even for you."

Chala glared at him but turned to the door anyway.

"What, so you're just shipping us off somewhere?" Young Yuan huffed.

"Yes." He glared at him, "Lloyd, send Cheresea home if you want, just make sure those two-" He pointed at Kratos and his

younger self, "Don't do anything stupid. Oh, uh...you can handle watching Mithos, can't you?"

We looked at Mithos, who was currently trying to chew on his foot.

"Yuan, think about it, you're asking LLOYD to watch children?"" Raine scoffed.

"H-hey! What the hell is that supposed to mean?!" he scoffed.

"Very good point," Yuan frowned, "...Damn, then who could we-?"

"Raine, dear, you forgot this."

"Mother-!"

Chala's Grama was here, holding a large book.

"Who's the elf lady?" Young Yuan asked Kratos.

"Beats me," he muttered, still in a state of shock.

"You said this was important, so I-"

Virginia saw the mini-versions of Yuan, Grampa and Mithos and stopped.

"...I assume something's gone wrong...?" she trailed.

"...Yes," Chala spoke up, "So naturally, we shouldn't let more go wrong...Virginia."

She stressed 'Virginia' instead of saying Grama, I'm guessing she's trying to tell the elf lady not to let it out how they're

related... Oh that's right, this young Yuan was in love with Sari's Aunt, so if he found out who he really married...

"...I see..." she trailed.

"Er, yes-...Mother!" Raine shouted. "Excellent timing!"

"Hm?" she blinked.

"Well, as you can see we have a...situation, we need someone to watch..."

We all looked at little Mithos again, who had actually managed to bite his toes... That's kinda cool, actually, wish I could do

that...

I wonder if Sari could when she was little? Hah! That'd be funny to see-...right...

"The little one?" she asked. "...All right, I understand."

"Hey, hey!" Young Yuan got in front of Mithos to cut her off from him. "Hold on a second lady! What makes you think we're

letting you do anything to him?!"

Virginia smiled.

"...Huh...?"

"Trust me, child," she smiled kindly, "It wouldn't do to make me angry...especially when you make it to his age," she looked at

our Yuan, "I can make your life...difficult."

The older Yuan paled.

"Listen to her, please, for the love of mana listen to her!" he blurted.

"Why should I?" his younger self huffed.

"I'm you, you fool! Anything she does to me will happen to you!"

He blinked, looking as if he had forgotten the fact.

"Oh...oh! Uh...well...wait! Why are you so afraid of HER?"

"Trust me..." he muttered.

After all, I don't think it would've been smart if he came out and said that Virginia was his mother-in-law... I don't get it really,

but from what I've gathered from most normal families, people don't usually get along with mother-in-laws...

"...W-well..."

"Then it's settled," Virginia smirked, looking a little like Chala, "All right little one, come to nana Virginia..."

"Nana?" Mithos blinked.

She knelt down and gently scooped him up, fondling his hair.

"I'm gonna take care of you for a while, okay?" she smiled.

Mithos giggled a bit and Virginia smiled.

"Well! Isn't he a nice boy?" she grinned.

"Ears," he said, pointing behind her hair.

Now that I look, her ears are a lot longer than Raine's...

"Yes, I have long ears, I'm an elf," she said.

"My mama an elf!" Mithos said.

"Really? Well what do you know!" she smiled. "Now come on, let's go..."

"Yuie and Kratows?" he looked at them.

"No, they stay, we'll see them later, okay? Say bye."

"Bye!" Mithos waved and Virginia smiled, walking out of the room.

"H-hey-!" Young Yuan started.

"Don't worry about him, he'll be fine," his older self said.

"But-!"

"As for you two..." he paused.

He was quiet for a moment as he looked at them, then me and Dad, thinking about something.

"...If I told you to go sit quietly in a room somewhere, your reaction would be..."

"Aw, man!" Dad whined. "Just go and WAIT?"

"Boring!" I moaned. "Can't we do something else?"

"You're not locking us up! Fuck you, old man!" Kratos snapped.

I had a mixed urge to either scream or burst out laughing at seeing my GRANDFATHER flipping his friend off.

"Why you little-!"

"I hate to agree with him, but yeah!" Dad said. "We're not just going to sit around for who knows how long!"

"Lloyd, think about it! What else can we do? The less they know the better!"

"Oh come on!" I whined. "Like they haven't found out anything at all!"

"Pssh! No kidding!" Young Yuan said. "I'm going to be four-thousand-years-old, YOU, have some big lab thing, a bitchy

daughter-"

Chala snorted.

"Kratos is gonna have retard here for a son-"

"WHAT-?"

"A granddaughter with the attention span of a chicken-"

"HEY!" I snapped.

My attention span isn't THAT short-! ...Though I'd really like some chicken right now, actually, I haven't had lunch-

...Oh shiznit...he's right...

"And he's gonna get these bizarro snake-eyes-"

"Yeah! And what's up with that anyway?!" Kratos shouted. "How do I end up looking like I'm possessed or something?!"

"The point is locking us up isn't going to make a fucking difference," Young Yuan snarled, "it'll just make us ALL ticked."

"...Father," Chala looked at our Yuan, "...Do you honestly think they'll listen?"

Yuan looked at the them again, then at me and Dad again.

"...No, probably not..." he sighed.

"There's no other option, you'll just need to deal with it," Raine said curtly.

Dad, Kratos, young Yuan and I groaned.

So, things turned out like that, us stuck in a room. Dad plopped into the nearest chair automatically, groaning about how

boring this was gonna be. I mean, yeah, I agreed with him, but isn't he supposed to be the mature one?

"Man..." he groaned.

"Well...uhm..." I trailed, trying to think of something good about this situation, "We...well, we can uh...spend time with each

other, and stuff..."

"Oh joy, fun," Young Yuan rolled his eyes, "Don't you agree, Kratos-? ...Kratos?"

Kratos was kinda leaning against the wall with his head down, he was brooding, which actually um...was one of the only

things he still did...

"Hey, are you okay?" I asked.

"Huh? Sure, perfect, just trying to get over the fact my older self's a freak..."

I twitched.

"Hey! He is not!"

"Listen, kid, I know you're a ditz, but are you BLIND? Old fossil looks about as fun as chronic diarrhea..." he trailed.

"He's not a freak!" I said again, feeling my face flush. "He's a little gloomy, but he's really nice and caring-!"

"When?" Chala raised an eyebrow.

"You shut up!" I snapped. "Just because he doesn't act like it-"

"Besides, you do realize you're just insulting yourself, right?" Dad asked.

"Ah, so what, it's not gonna be my problem for another few mellinnia," he shrugged.

"Oh come on, Kratos," Yuan sighed, "Don't get into one of your funks..."

"Fuck you," he glared.

"Dude, you don't see me bitching-"

"You bashed your head against the wall!"

"So did you! Shut up!"

The three of us stopped and watched Kratos and Yuan fight- or rather, the teenage-versions of them fight... I hate to admit it,

but it was actually really funny... They would never fight like that now, and if they did get into a fight, it would probably be an

actual 'BOOM there goes half the continent' fight...

"...Should we stop them, or just watch?" Chala asked.

"I put two-hundred gald on -...Kratos," Dad said.

"Hah, I put five-hundred on Yuan," she snorted.

"Oh yeah? A thousand gald says Kratos wins!"

"I'll take you up on that," she glared.

After a few minutes, Dad ended up handing her the money.

"Thank you for your patronage," she smirked, counting the gald.

"I bet I would be so mad if I knew what that meant..." he muttered.

Anyway, Yuan and Kratos were glaring at each other again, except Yuan was smirking because he managed to get in the last

insult.

"Go to hell, Yuan..." Kratos muttered.

"What, so I can see you? No thanks."

He glared at him again.

"...Okay...uh..." Dad trailed, "well, we-"

There was a loud growling sound.

"..." I blinked.

"...Was that you?" Chala looked at Kratos and Yuan.

"...Well, we haven't exactly had anything in a while..." Yuan muttered.

"I'm starved, tell me you at least still have real food four-thousand years into the future," Kratos said.

"Well of course, silly," I laughed, "What did you think WE ate?"

"Hell if I know what anything is here..." he muttered.

I stopped a minute and just stared at him. I couldn't help it, he looked so much like Grampa- he WAS Grampa, but...it was just

so weird... Then of course, thinking about it, my whole life is weird, so...

Dad looked, miraculously, serious for a moment. I went to ask why-

"Cheresea," he said, looking at me.

"Y-yes sir...?" I stammered, a bit unnerved at how he was acting...like an adult.

"Are you hungry? You haven't had anything since earlier either, have you?"

I flushed.

"No, I'm fine," I smiled, "I can last a while-"

My stomach growled. Damn it.

"...You're fine, huh?" he sighed.

"Of course I am!" I snapped, blushing.

"...Cheresea, what did you have for breakfast?" Dad asked.

"Huh? Well...enough..."

Actually, I barely had a crumb. I was up early trying to get some homework done and I was just getting something to eat

when Dad asked if I wanted to train. It's not like I could've told him no, right? I mean...well, I could've, but I wanted to train

with him...

"...You didn't eat anything, did you?" he sighed.

"What?" I laughed. "Of course I did-!"

Dad laughed.

"W-what?!" I blushed.

"You're just like your Mom, you always do that fake giggle when you lie."

"..." I blanched.

"Oooooh...busted..." Yuan commented.

"Heh," Chala smirked.

"Right..." Dad trailed.

I glared at her before looking back at Dad, who was having one of his extremely rare moments where he actually acted his

age.

"Chala, is there a kitchen or something around?" he asked.

"Hm? Yes, there's one a ways down the hall..."

"All right then, come on," he said, getting to his feet.

"Huh?" Kratos raised an eyebrow.

"You guys are hungry, right? It wouldn't be right to starve you or anything," he smiled.

"Father said not to-" Chala started.

"Nyeh," Dad made a face, "Like I'm listening to him. If you want to keep them here, fine, but I'm making sure Cheresea gets

something to eat-"

"D-dad-!" I stammered. "Stop it! It's okay! Really! I'm fine-!"

"Oh for crying out loud! Shut UP!"

I flinched and stared at Kratos, who was shaking his head.

"We know you're hungry now shut the hell up and go get something!" he snarled. "You're a hell of an awful liar, kid..."

"I'm not a kid-!" I started.

"Whatever," he rolled his eyes.

Just then, he twitched when his stomach growled loudly too.

"...Can you bring us back a sandwich?" Yuan asked.

Chala sighed, rubbing her forehead, "Fine. I'll take you to the kitchens, but we'll just be there a minute, understood?"

"YAY!" I cheered.

"...Ditz," Kratos muttered.

"FUCK YOU!" I shouted. "ASSHOLE!"

I flinched a minute to register my action. ...I had just called my grandfather an asshole...oh my goodness...

"...I- I'm sorry-!" I shouted, covering my mouth.

"...Is she always like this?" he asked Dad.

"Well...usually she doesn't apologize for calling people something IMMEDIATELY..."

"Are you coming or not?" Chala spat, already in the hallway.

So we followed her to a cafeteria they had in the building, which was empty like the rest of the base. I guess our Yuan must

have sent them all away after this happened. Well, whatever, Chala took us to the kitchen.

"All right, use whatever you want just don't make a mess," she stated.

"Great! Now then...uh...anyone here now how to cook?" Yuan asked.

"I can try something-" Chala started, her eyes shining.

"NO!" Dad shouted. "NO! Your cooking is as bad as the Professor's-!""WHAT?!" she snarled. "And who told you that!"

"Jeremy," I said, blinking, "He said it was the absolute worst thing anyone could ever ever ever taste in all their lives, even

your Dad said that."

Chala's eye twitched. I probably shouldn't have said that.

"Okay, don't let bitchy-blue cook, got it," Kratos said, "Whatever, I'll find something to make, hey Yuan, find some potatoes will

ya?"

"Assuming potatoes still exist in this time? Sure," he said, going to the cabinets.

"Cheresea, get out a frying pan, would you?" Dad asked, going through the freezer.

"Sure, Dad," I said, running off, "Oh wait, where are-?"

...Then...I tripped over nothing and bashed into a cabinet on my right, which opened up and a pan fell and landed by my head.

"...There they are," Chala said simply.

"Ouch..." I muttered, getting to my feet.

"Could've been worse, the pan could've hit you," Yuan shrugged.

I glared at him, "Shut up."

"Whatever, so-..."

I saw Yuan smirk as he spotted something in the refrigerator which he had been looking for uh...lettuce I think? Anyway,

something in there made him smirk really creepy-like and then he looked over at Kratos.

"Hey, Kratos," he grinned.

"Huh? What is it?" he asked.

"I found something cool..."

"...In the fridge?" Kratos asked, looking a little worried.

"Why yes, don't you want to see what it is?" he grinned.

SPLAT!

My mouth dropped open as I saw something red hit Kratos in the face, splattering everywhere-...wait, is that a tomato...?

"AHHH-! DAMN YOU, YUAN! I'LL FUCKING KILL YOU-!"

"AHAHAHAHAHA-! OW! OW! HEY, STOP-! OW!"

I stared as Kratos grabbed Yuan's ponytail and started bashing his fist into the half-elf's gut, and even though his face was

covered in tomato you could tell that his expression looked very, very, VERY pissed off...

"What the-? HEY! Knock it off!" Dad shouted.

Before I could really think about anything, Dad had pulled them away and was holding them each at an arm's length. Yuan

was shivering like a beaten puppy while Kratos still tried to attack him even though Dad was holding them.

"LEMME GO! I'LL KILL THE ASSHOLE! I SWEAR, I'LL-!"

"What the hell is wrong with you!" Dad shouted. "I-! ...What's that on your face?"

He didn't answer, seeing as he was too busy yelling about different ways he would use to torture and then kill Yuan, whom

spoke up.

"Uh...tomato..." he managed to say.

"...Tomato..." Dad repeated.

"Well, yeah, he hasn't liked them since that time last year when we went out for pizza...though Mithos thought it was

hilarious," Yuan said.

Wait, so Mithos was only two? How did Sari know that then? Then again, she really shouldn't know any of it, so...

Wait a second. Grampa HATES tomatoes, and Dad does too...

"...You threw a TOMATO?" Dad hissed, glaring at Yuan.

"Uh...well...yeah..."

"He's all yours," Dad said, letting go of 'Grampa'.

"DIE YOU PONY-TAILED FREAK-!"

"WHAT! AAHHHH-! HEEEEEELLLLPPP-!"

Kratos began chasing Yuan all over the kitchen, Chala deciding to jump in at this point to stop her father from getting killed

before she was even born.

"HEY! STOP IT!" she roared. "DAMN IT, LLOYD! WHY DID YOU-?"

"He deserves it! He threw a TOMATO!" Dad whined.

"Tomatoes aren't that bad, though, right?"

Dad stared at me.

"...Cheresea, have you ever actually EATEN a tomato?" Dad asked as Chala tried to keep Yuan away from Kratos, who was

yelling out swear words.

"Huh? Well...besides that one at the gross-out contest in Altimira? No...but I mean, if I could eat that, I could eat a normal

tomato, right?" I asked.

"The worms made it taste better, and the mold..." Dad muttered.

"What? Tomatoes can't be THAT bad, can they-?"

"YES THEY ARE!" Kratos shouted suddenly, stopping his Yuan-hunt long enough to yell at us. "THEY ARE EVIL!"

"AMEN!" Dad shouted. "TOMATOES SHOULD ALL DIE!"

"EXACTLY!" Kratos said. "I-! ..."

He stopped a moment when he noticed he was by the fridge Yuan had left open. I wondered what he was doing a moment

when he pulled something out of it which looked like a chunk of cheddar cheese-

Uh-oh.

"No...NO! You wouldn't-!" Yuan cried.

Chala looked as if her mind had snapped, staring in horror.

"Damn straight I would..." Kratos grinned.

He held the piece of cheese over the garbage can which was filled with all sorts of disgusting stuff as he grinned evilly.

"YOU BASTARD!" Chala shouted. "I swear, if you so much as-!"

"Oh, look! I'm gonna drop it! I am!" he laughed.

"Don't you dare-!" Yuan shouted.

Chala picked up a carrot that had fallen onto the floor while Kratos almost killed her father for the tomato thing and threw it at

Kratos. But uh...her aim was kinda off and instead she hit me right in the forehead.

"OW-!" I shouted. "WHY YOU-!"

I picked up a potato off the counter and threw it back, but uh...I'm not exactly good with aiming, so I kinda hit Yuan in the gut.

"Guh-! Why you little-! You'll pay for that!"

I yelped as he threw a head of lettuce at me from the fridge next to him-

"HEY! Don't throw things at her!" Dad shouted.

"Stop me, then, retard!" Yuan snarled.

"What-? I'll kill you you son of a-"

"Don't you dare insult him!" Chala shouted, "Dumbass!"

She accented this by nailing him in the head with another carrot.

"...Nice aim..." Kratos whispered.

"Yeah..." I trailed.

"OW! The hell-! So THAT'S how you want to play, huh?!"

Dad grabbed another potato and hurled it at them, barely missing Kratos, who jumped out of reflex and dropped the cheese

into the gooey, bacteria-infected trash.

We stared in silence.

"...THIS...IS...WAR!" Yuan shouted.

"GET HIM!" Chala roared.

"H-hey-!" Kratos backed up.

"You'll have to get through me first, cheese-freaks!" Dad shouted.

"Yeah! No one calls Dad a dumbass!" I said.

Well...it was only a matter of seconds before we got into a full out food fight. Fruits and vegetables were flying everywhere

along with pasta, slices of meat, and anything we could really get at. Chala and Yuan were set on getting Kratos, who was set

on getting Yuan for the tomato thing, and Dad was pissed off enough at being called a dumbass and the tomato thing too... I

ended up throwing stuff at Yuan and Chala, of course, I mean, not only would fighting against Dad and Kratos be kinda

treacherous, but it could potentially get me grounded...

"MASHED POTATOES AT FIVE O'CLOCK!" Kratos shouted.

"...But it's only two..." I blinked.

"Just shut up and duck, ditz!"

"I'm not a-! AH!"

Kratos pushed me down right as a bowl flew by where my head would've been.

"Ow...that would've hurt..." I trailed.

"No shit, now get something to throw back at them!"

"VICTORY SHALL BE OURS!" Yuan shouted from across the room.

"HAH! We'll have your ponytails on a platter!" Dad shouted back.

"WHAT?!" they cried in unison.

"You DARE insult our hairstyle?!" Chala roared.

"TAKE THIS YOU STUPID HUMANS!" Yuan cried, throwing more stuff at us.

We took cover and then I was about to throw an orange when-

"WHAT THE _HELL _IS GOING ON IN HERE?!"

We all froze in our various throwing/dodging poses, the radishes Kratos was about to throw falling out of his hand and onto

the ground. Our Yuan was standing in the doorway, looking like he could explode seeing as his face was so red. Behind him I

saw Genis, who looked amused, and Grampa...who did not.

"...I...uh..." Dad trailed, "...They started it?"

Grampa's eye twitched.

**Cheresea: O.O Oh no, I am so grounded!**

**Me: You AND Lloyd, from the looks of it...n.n That was so fun to write!**

**Spork: And fun to read. Hehehe...**

**Y. Kratos: HEAD FOR THE HILLS!**


	5. By the Sea Shore

Spork: This chapter is so late... I suck. T.T

Kratos: I didn't mind the break.

Cheresea: I hope we get to do something fun this time! n.n

Freaky: Yeah, n.n I can't wait!

* * *

**Past Spirits**

**Chapter Five: By the Sea Shore**

**Young Kratos' P.O.V.**

Something tells me this won't end very well.

"Lloyd, are you so incapable of restraining these children?" the older Yuan said icily, "And Chala, you should have known better!"

Behind him, the new guy with the white hair snickered.

"Father!" said Chala, pointing a finger at me, "He destroyed a perfectly good slice of three-year-old cheddar!"

A muscle under the older Yuan's eye twitched. Second time in one day. The man needs to get a therapist.

"He. Did. What?"

Now he looks like he's ready to commit murder.

"Yuan, restrain yourself," the older me said. "It's only food, it can be replaced."

I'm sure that if I had said that (that's 'I' as in _me_, me) I would've been ground into the floor. This Yuan just sort of growled and sulked.

"As for the rest of you," the older me looked disapprovingly at all of us.

"I-I can explain!" said Lloyd, apparently in some desperate attempt to keep from being punished, "You see, the other Yuan and Kratos were hungry, so, we thought, why not just let them have something to eat? But then, we got here, and Yuan threw a tomato at Kratos – "

"That is quite enough," said the older me. The look on his face suggested he had a really bag migraine.

Wait a minute... he wasn't bothered by the whole tomato throwing thing? Yuan (the older) got all worked up about that stupid lump of mold and old milk, but the older me can't even pretend to care about a thrown tomato?

THE MAN HAS NO SOUL! I swear... maybe he lost it to the same demon that gave him the creepy eyes.

"...Are you listening to me?"

Damn, I haven't been paying attention.

"Nope, not at all," I said to the older me, grinning. The older me frowned disapprovingly.

"Kratos, don't be so hard on them," said the guy with the white hair, talking to the older me, "I mean, this is Lloyd and Cheresea we're talking about." He grinned, and then added, "I'm surprised that Chala joined in, but I guess it's good for her to loosen up a bit."

"What do you mean, 'loosen up a bit'?" demanded Chala indignantly, "I don't need to 'loosen up' at all, Uncle Genis!"

Genis shrugged, but didn't stop grinning. He seemed to be enjoying Chala's pain.

I saw the real Yuan's face scrunch up in thought. I wonder what's bothering him.

...Wait, Chala did call this Genis person 'uncle'? Martel's only sibling is Mithos, and Yuan is an only child... that makes no sense...

"As you seem to be incapable of acting in a mature manner", said the older me, interrupting my thoughts. "It seems steps must be taken to restrain you."

"You won't do anything really bad to us!" I said, with absolute confidence, "Anything you do to me will happen to you! So go on, do your worst!"

* * *

There is only one way things could be any worse...

"...Damn, I'm still hungry! They never did remember to feed us, did they?"

...If it involved tomatoes.

"Dear gods, Yuan will you _shut up_?" I snapped.

"Like you aren't thinking the same thing," said Yuan, sulkily from his cell. They didn't even put us in the same damn cell! The older Yuan seemed to think it was funny that the older me threw us in his jail. Gotta remember to punch him sometime. Doesn't matter which one right now.

"Yeah, maybe I am, but I'm not annoying the rest of the world!" I snapped again, wondering when I would go insane.

"Just shut up, you stupid human."

"Mad half-elf!"

Before either of us could attempt to murder the other, we heard a voice say, "Hey! Knock it off you two!"

We looked up and saw Lloyd and Cheresea walk up to us. They probably came to check on us and make sure we weren't dead yet.

"Do you two really act like this all the time?" Lloyd asked.

"Possibly," said Yuan, sulkily.

"Get us out!" I said desperately. "I'm begging you! I can't take it anymore!"

Cheresea and Lloyd stared at me as if they had seen me in a pink tutu. "Did you... just beg for help?" Lloyd said, wide-eyed.

"Yes!" I yelled, trying not to think about how much my pride would bleed later. "Let me out! I can't stand listening to Yuan whine anymore!"

"Hey!"

"Can't you like, steal the key or something?" I asked them.

"You mean, you haven't figured it out yet?" Lloyd asked, apparently still stunned.

"_Figured out what_?" I shouted.

Lloyd slammed on one of the bars of my cells with his fist, and the door popped open. I stood there like an idiot at Lloyd who looked smug.

"I was thrown in there a few years back," he explained. "I had to figure out how to get out. Turns out the cell door just pops open if you hit it in the right place." To demonstrate his point, he did the same thing to Yuan's cell.

"...You're letting us out?" observed Yuan.

"Yeah," Lloyd grinned, "'Cuz Kratos begged. I'm sure there are people out there who would pay good money to have seen that."

"Sounds like we could make some major money off of your embarrassment," said Yuan.

I didn't say anything; I didn't care anymore.

Then Yuan gave me a mischievous look. This meant he was hatching some sort of plan. He turned back to Cheresea and Lloyd, looking innocent as a puppy. "Can't we go somewhere else?" he asked, "You know, someplace where we won't get into trouble for everything? Where the cranky people don't make us sit in boring rooms all day?"

"Well..." Lloyd seemed to 'think' about this. "Yuan did say to keep you guys here in the base..."

"But we can always come back," I added. This actually meant that as soon as they suggested we should go back to this place, me and Yuan should run for the hills.

"It wouldn't hurt as long as no one found out we were gone," Yuan added.

"Well..." Lloyd started again.

"They're right, Dad!" chirped Cheresea. "If no one knows they're gone, then it's okay!"

Lloyd considered this, then broke into a wide grin. "Sure, why not?"

"YAY!" Cheresea jumped for joy... literally. How can she be so happy all the time?

"Great, so, how do we get out of here?" Yuan asked.

"I'm sure Yuan won't miss a few Rheairds," Lloyd said, "Eh... I mean the older Yuan."

The Yuan I knew rolled his eyes. "We all figured that out on our own."

"Where are they?" I asked. "The Rheairds, I mean."

"There's a hanger in another part of the base," Lloyd said, "This way."

He walked down the hall, stopping a few feet away when he came to a corner. He turned to Cheresea, looking embarrassed.

"Do you remember where the hanger is?" he asked his daughter.

She sighed, "Dad..."

"Heh..."

We followed Cheresea, until she lead us into a large room - the Rheaird hangar.

"Rheairds! Awesome!"

Yuan ran up to the nearest one, nearly bouncing with excitement.

"Just grab a Rheaird and we'll head out!" declared Lloyd, immediately seizing a red-colored craft, to no one's surprise.

I automatically got on the same Rheaird as Yuan.

"You guys don't have to share," Cheresea pointed out. "There are plenty here. No one will miss them if we aren't gone long."

"Kratos is notorious for destroying Rheairds," Yuan said, smugly, before I could even open my mouth.

"They weren't _destroyed_," I said, resentfully. "All they needed was a paint job and a new engine. And maybe a couple of new wings..."

Lloyd and Cheresea stared at me. I glared at them, "What?"

"What did you do to the Rheairds?" Lloyd asked, agog. "Did you crash them into boulders?"

"No! They're just too delicate! It's not my fault at all!"

"He can't land the things to save his life," Yuan said, ignoring me. He paused, and then added. "Well, he can land to save his life, but not the Rheaird."

I punched him, "Just shut up and fly."

Lloyd snickered. He seemed to like the mental image of me 'crashing' a Rheaird. I've never crashed! Ever! The damn things just broke...

A few minutes later we were up in the air and flying away from the base as fast as was physically possible.

Yuan was showing off his flying skills. The only reason he didn't try to flip upside-down was because I punched him, reminding him he had a passenger who didn't want to fall to a very squishy death.

And he says I'm the reckless driver.

"Where should we go?" I asked Lloyd and Cheresea. "Do you guys have any ideas?"

Lloyd considered this, but his daughter came up with an idea first.

"Oh!" Cheresea started bouncing with excitement, which probably isn't that safe when you're several hundred feet in the air. "Oh! Oh! I know where we should go! Altamira!"

"...What's Altamira?" I asked.

"It's great!" Cheresea said, grinning.

"...What else?"

"It's got all sorts of cool stuff! There's a big hotel, and a roller coaster, and a theater, and a beach, and – "

"I get the idea," I said, trying to stop her. "It's got a lot of stuff."

"This is gonna be fun!" she continued, "We can go to the theme park, and to the beach, and a bunch of my friends live there too!"

Oh, yay, more weirdos to run into... That's sarcasm, if you couldn't tell.

"Altamira sounds like fun!" Lloyd said, with enthusiasm equal to Cheresea's. Must be a hereditary thing.

...I hope Lloyd got it from his mother... whoever she is.

"That's Altamira, right there!" said Cheresea, pointing to a sparkly blob on an island down below us.

As we flew closer, the blob defined itself into a resort town. I could see a theme park, a beach, and a large hotel, which seemed to be made of windows.

Cheresea showed us an empty spaces designed as a landing area for guests with Rheairds. As we got off I looked around and tried to get a feel for this place. There were a lot of families with little kids running around. There were women in skimpy bunny suits hanging everywhere. I guess the population of Altamira are just families with kids under the age of eight and women with floppy ears.

"What do you guys want to do first?" Cheresea asked us. She looked really excited about being here.

My stomach growled. We never did get around to actually eating anything back at the base.

"First," I said, "I want food."

"Here, here," said Yuan.

"Wasn't there a restaurant in the hotel?" Cheresea asked her father.

"Yeah," said Lloyd. "I remember the food being good. And their menu is totally devoid of tomatoes."

At least there's something to be happy about.

We followed Lloyd into the hotel. He took us via an elevator to the third floor where the restaurant was. There were windows on all four sides, potted plants, and glass tables.

Talk about fancy.

"Can you people even afford to just sit down at a place like this?" I asked.

"We have connections," said Lloyd cryptically.

As long as we don't get arrested for these 'connections', then I'm fine.

There was a group of those bunny-ladies sitting in a group nearby - they must on break or something. They looked over at us, and started chatting among themselves. After we sat down, made fun of the fancy names of the food, and ordered our stuff one of the younger ones stood up and walked over to us.

"Hey there," said said, directing this at me and Yuan. "Is this your fist time at Altamira?"

"Yeah," said Yuan.

This seemed to be the answer the bunny-lady wanted. Her eyes glittered, but Yuan caught on quickly. "I already have a girlfriend."

The bunny-lady turned her attention to me. I opened my mouth, but Cheresea spoke up first.

"Keep your hands off my gram - him!" she blurted out.

The bunny-lady didn't seem put-off by this. In fact, she smiled. "Don't worry, if it means that much to you, I'll leave your brother alone."

"He's not my brother!" blurted Cheresea, at the same time I said, "She's not my sister!"

Though to tell the truth, now that I think about it, I can kinda see why the bunny-lady thought we were siblings. We have the same kind of auburn hair, for one thing.

"Uh-huh," the bunny-lady was smirking at us now. "I have an older brother too. We fight all the time. It means he cares."

"She's not my sister!" I repeated. "I've got nothing to do with her!"

Cheresea looked hurt, and the bunny-lady frowned at me.

"Look at what you did, you jerk!" she snapped, trying to sound serious while wearing one square foot of fabric, floppy ears, and a fluffy tail. "Apologize to your little sister!"

"W-what?" I said, bewildered. "What gives you the right to just walk up to a stranger and tell him what to do?"

She slapped me. It hurt a lot. Lloyd and Yuan tried very hard not to laugh.

"Apologize!" snapped the bunny-lady. Her buddies started giggling. That did it.

"Sorry..." I muttered.

"Um... it's okay." said Cheresea, sounding embarrassed. She probably thought it was weird that someone else thought she was her will-be grandfather's little sister.

The bunny-lady seemed satisfied. She returned to her giggling clique, leaving us all feeling mildly embarrassed.

Then our food came. We ate/devoured it. We left the hotel.

Now that the issue of food and the nosy bunny-ladies had been solved, we had nothing to do.

"What now?" I asked the world in general.

Cheresea thought about this, then snapped her fingers.

"Oh, I know! Let's go on the roller coaster!"

Cheresea pointed to an enormous steel knot of screaming terror in the distance.

Yuan snickered, my fear must've shown on my face. "Scared?" he said, smirking.

"No," I said, "I just don't like being strapped into a rickety box that flies along a suspended pipe at speeds that can tear your head off."

"Chicken," Yuan sneered.

"You go and commit suicide then!"

"Chiiiiicken!"

"Now you're just being stupid."

"Bawk! Bawk!"

Cheresea stared in horror at Yuan. I took pity on her and her frying brain cells... assuming she has any.

"All right! All right!" I said, defeated. "I'll go on the damn roller coaster with you crazies."

"YAY!" Cheresea chirped. Yuan grinned evilly. Is that even a word, 'evilly'?

I looked back up at the raging metal death trap. I tried not to imagine falling off.

Five minutes later, I was about to die.

"AAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!"

Half a century of face-ripping terror later, I was laying face down on the ground. I didn't even want to stand up ever again. I don't care if people are staring, or have to walk around me, I'M NOT GETTING UP!

"Never again..." I moaned.

Yuan smirked smugly down at me. "Wuss."

"Stuff it, you mad half-elf," I said, trying to hug the ground.

Lloyd snickered as he saw me. "I never thought I'd never see _Kratos_ act like this..."

"Shut up!" I snapped.

"...Or like that," said Lloyd, still grinning.

Smug butt.

"We don't want to pry you off the ground," continued Lloyd. "But I'm sure I can get a crowbar if I have to."

"Shut up!" I snapped again.

"Cheresea," Lloyd said to his daughter. "Can you go an ask the maintenance staff if they have a crowbar we could borrow?"

"...I hate you all," I muttered, standing up, reluctantly.

"Now what do you want to do?" said Yuan, excitedly. "You wanna drag Kratos onto the roller coaster again?"

"NO!"

Lloyd snickered.

Cheresea stopped the inevitable argument before it started. "Now let's do the tea cups!" Cheresea said, dragging us over to the said ride.

"I think I'll skip out on this one too," I said, knowing that I sounded like a wuss.

"Aww... c'mon," said Cheresea, giving me big blue puppy eyes.

I rolled my eyes, "Fine."

As we walked over to the tea cups, Yuan whispered to me, "This is better than obedience school for you."

This time I decided to not waste my breath on the mad half-elf.

So we spun around wildly for a minute, while trying not to be sick. When it was over, we staggered off, everything was kinda fuzzy. Going on something like that shortly after eating is a bad idea.

"Let's go again!" Cheresea said, trying to tug on my arm.

"Noooo..." I moaned, waiting for the world to turn right side up, "I've had enough."

"C'mon," said Cheresea cheerfully, "It'll be fun!"

"I just don't like spinning around until I cough up my last three meals," I said, a little defensively, totally resolute about staying here this time. "I'll wait here."

As Cheresea, Yuan, and Lloyd went on the spinning vomit factory again, I watched a guy in a stupid mascot dog outfit get harassed by a group of little kids. This is why you get a high school diploma, to avoid ending up like that sap.

Five minutes later, Cheresea staggered off the tea cups, as Yuan wandered off, looking green, Lloyd following chose behind. Cheresea wandered over to me.

"Wheeee!"

Cheresea smiled up at me, cross-eyed.

"That was fun!" she said, swaying, "Let's go again!"

Then she tripped, over her own feet, I think. I leaned over her to see if she was okay, but she just smiled blankly up at me.

"I'm sorry..." Then she giggled.

Okay, now I'm worried.

"You okay?" I asked.

"Just dandruff!" chirped Cheresea. Then she giggled again.

"...I think the word you were looking for was 'dandy'."

"Er...yeah! That's what I said!" she blushed, shaking her head and uncrossing her eyes.

I sighed. Can't the ditz not hurt herself every five minutes?

I crouched down and helped her get shakily back on her feet.

"Let's go again! Let's go again!" she said, unfazed.

"No," I said, firmly, "Let's go do something else, before you lose more I.Q. points."

She took offense at this. "What do you mean, 'more' I.Q. points?"

Wow, I'm surprised she caught that right away.

"There's a bench over there," I said, pointing. "You should probably sit down for a minute."

"What do you mean 'more' I.Q. points?" Cheresea repeated, as I helped her sit down.

I sighed. "I said 'more' because I wasn't sure how many you had to start with."

"Hey!"

"The evasive approach didn't work, so I decided I'd go for brutally honest."

"Hey!"

"...You're proving nothing."

"Hey!"

I gave up.

Cheresea decided it was time to change the subject. As she watched her father and Yuan stagger back over to us, she said, sounding disappointed. "You didn't like the roller coaster, and you didn't like the tea cups. What do you like to do at a theme park?"

I grinned.

Ten minutes later, I was introducing Cheresea to the only thing at a theme park worth going to.

"AAAAHHHHHH!"

I tried not to laugh at Cheresea as she backed away from the wall.

"The painting's eyes MOVE!" she said, her voice nearly a screech of terror. She was pacing in front of the painting, watching it with wide scared eyes.

We haven't even gotten to the stuff that jumps out at you yet, and she's already terrified... Though, now that I think about it, taking someone like Cheresea to a 'haunted house' maybe wasn't the brightest idea ever.

Might as well enjoy it as it lasts.

"Scared?" I said, smirking.

"N-no!" lied Cheresea, still shaking.

Not far away, Lloyd didn't seem to be doing much better than Cheresea. Yuan had seemed to appoint himself Lloyd's chief harasser, by leading him to all the places where the cheesey fake monsters pop out at you. There are alwaysfake monsters in a haunted house. There was an embarrassingly girly scream. It wasn't Yuan's embarrassingly girly scream either.

"Sounds like your dad's having a good time," I said to Cheresea.

"But they _move_!" Cheresea was still fixated on the paintings. I grabbed her shoulder and started dragging her away. I didn't know what Lloyd would do to me if his daughter became traumatized for life because of me.

Cheresea bit her lip, still nervous about being here. I sighed, maybe bringing her here was a bad idea.

We walked past a bunch of plastic tombstones, Cheresea close behind me. Cheresea screamed as a robotic werewolf jumped up from behind one of the stones. I feel bad about this, she really doesn't like this place.

"It's not that scary," I said. "Take a look at this." I poked one of the werewolf's teeth. It bent easily. "See? Rubber teeth. He ain't so tough."

I punched it, but it turned out the fake monster was much harder than I thought it had been. I swore and shook my hand, feeling like a moron. Cheresea smiled.

"What?" I snapped.

"I feel better now," she said, sounding more confident. "I can take anything they can throw at me! I'm not afraid!"

"AAAAAHHHHH!"

Apparently someone else _is_ afraid.

Lloyd ran up to us, a snickering Yuan close behind.

"Let's get out of here!" said Lloyd. His eyes were wide and his hair was messy. Looks like he's even more traumatized than his daughter.

"I know!" said Cheresea, again drawing from her Endless Well of Ideas. "Let's go to the beach now!" She grabbed my and Yuan's arm and dragging us off again. I wonder how long she can do this to us before our arms fall off?

After pointing out that neither Yuan or I had swimsuits, Lloyd handed us some Gald, destroying our only excuse not to go and just run away. I just got some plain swim shorts. Yuan, however...

"What, in the name of all things holy, is _that_?"

He was wearing bright orange shorts, one of those button-up island shirts with an exotic flower pattern in ugly colors, and... dear gods... big sunglasses with palm trees on them.

"You got a problem with this?" Yuan demanded.

"Other than guilt of idiocy by association?" I asked.

"You're just jealous."

"Of what? There's nothing to be jealous of."

"You're just in denial."

...I should just stop trying to make sense of the world anymore.

Cheresea and her father had already built a sandcastle as we were talking. Now they were debating what to name it. Right now there seemed to be a deadlock.

"It's 'Fort Sandy'!"

"No, it's 'Fort Clam'!"

...I'm going to be related to these people? Ah, man, there's nothing worth doing around here...

Wait a minute...

...Hellooooo there.

There's a woman with orange hair and wearing a bikini that was probably half an inch away from illegal, lying on the beach. She had... how should I put it? Interesting proportions.

I whistled. "Hey, Yuan," I nudged Yuan in the ribs with my elbow, "Look over there!"

He glanced over, but then closed his eyes. Probably trying to stay faithful to Martel. Cheresea gave me a look of disgust.

The woman must've heard me. She sat up, and looked over at us. Her mouth dropped open when she spotted me.

"Ka'os?"

...Great... another nutjob who knows my name.

She noticed Yuan. "Dang, it's Yuan too!" She squinted at us. "Ya two get haircuts or somethin'? Ya look diff'rent."

Yuan and I exchanged looks. She has a weird accent for someone in a bikini.

"Um... no?" I tried.

"Hi Malk!"

Cheresea waved an arm, getting the orange-haired woman's attention.

Malk gave Cheresea a toothy grin, "Hi thar Cher'sea!" Malk jabbed a thumb in our direction and asked, "Your granddaddy looks kinda funny today. No weirdo snakey-eyes. Somethin' up?"

Cheresea glanced nervously in our direction.

"Um... They're... uh..." She paused, "...They're Kratos and Yuan... as teenagers."

"HOLY FISHSTICKS!" Malk exclaimed, her eyes bulging. "Ya mean they got inta one a' Raine's experiments?"

"...Kinda..." Cheresea started, "They're... from the past."

Silence.

Perhaps there was a pause because it took so long for Malk's little brain to process the idea.

The only word to describe what she did next is 'glomp'. It was a very painful glomp.

"Aw, yer just so dang cwute!" Malk cooed, as I tried to inhale, "But Ler'k's cwuter," she added.

THEN WHY DOESN'T SHE GO AND HARASS THIS 'LEREK' PERSON THEN?!

"Malk! Put him down!" said Cheresea, alarmed, "I think he's turning blue!"

She released me, and I fell to my knees, gasping for wonderful fresh air. I heard Yuan laughing, but his laughter was abruptly cut off.

"You're kinda cwute too!"

"ACK!"

...Serves him right...

"Malk! You have to put him down too!"

"Awww... dangit."

Yuan landed on the ground with an undignified thud and a loud gasp.

Malk looked disappointed, and Cheresea seemed... the best word for it might be 'frazzled'. But she has had to deal with a lot in one day.

"Hi Cheresea!"

Wonderful... more people...

A girl about Cheresea's age with wispy brown hair trotted up to Cheresea. "Hi Cheresea! Hi Malk!" Then the new girl looked over at me and Yuan, and looked puzzled. Weird, she looks a little familiar...

"Cheresea..." the new girl started, still staring at us as if we were fascinating, but possibly rabid animals, "What's going on?"

"Um..." Cheresea glanced at us, apparently trying to decide what to say.

"It's got something to do with a broken time machine," I said, not waiting for Cheresea to explain, "You're not the first one to get confused."

This only seemed to confuse her more, "Broken time machine...?"

"They're from the past," Cheresea explained. How many times am I going to have to hear this...?

"So, it's Yuan and your grandfather, as kids?" Sari said. She said it as if this were the strangest thing she had ever heard... which, to tell the truth, it probably was.

"Yeah," said Cheresea. "I know it's weird."

"...That makes us feel good about ourselves," commented Yuan dryly.

Then a voice called, "Sari!"

There appeared to be a woman with long blonde hair running up to us. Sari recognized this new person. She turned, and smiled at an approaching figure. "Hi Daddy!" she called, waving an arm. "Cheresea, her Dad, and some new friends are here!"

Sari's father was a tall man (now that he's gotten this close, I can tell it's a guy), with long blond hair, and I can see the resemblance. He looks familiar too. Talk about deja vu.

Yuan poked me in the ribs, "Hey, does that guy look kinda familiar to you?" he asked.

I rubbed my side. Yuan has pointy elbows. "A little," I admitted. "Any idea where we could've seen him before?"

Yuan shrugged, "Not a damn clue."

Then the blond man spotted us. He stared at us, as if he couldn't quite see us.

"Yuan? Kratos?" He sounded bewildered.

...Nothing should surprise me anymore...

"Um... yeah?" I looked over at Yuan, who shrugged.

The blond man stared at us.

We stared at the blond man.

The blond man stared at us.

We stared at the blond man.

Something in our heads went _click_.

The blond man's eyes widened.

Yuan paled.

I wondered when my head would explode.

"M-Mithos?!"

* * *

Spork: That was fun. :)

Kratos: (-Faints from an overload of weird-)

Cheresea: ...Well...I kinda feel bad for him...

Freaky: Oh this will be SO fun. n.n


	6. Punishments and POker

**Freaky: YAY! MY TURN! n.n**

**Cheresea: You're always really enthusiastic... That's nice! n.n**

**Holy Spork: Looks like Lloyd has rubbed off on you. :)  
**

**Young Kratos: Why are these people so happy all the time?**

_Past Spirits_

_Chapter Six: Punishments and Poker _

_-Cheresea's P.O.V._

I wondered a minute if I should've left before things got ugly.

"WHAT THE HELL?!" Mithos cried.

Hm...I think it's too late...

"Uh, Daddy..." Sari muttered, "I think...uhm...calm down..."

"Uh- Look, there was uh...well, something went wrong and-" I started.

"Mithos!?" Yuan cried again. "MITHOS!? Holy-! KRATOS! ARE YOU SEEING THIS?!"

"Well obviously!" Kratos huffed. "I shouted with you, didn't I? You know what, hell, I just don't care anymore, Origin himself could pop out of thin air about now and I wouldn't be surprised..."

...I probably shouldn't tell him I've met Origin, should I...?

"Cheresea, WHAT the hell happened...?" Mithos twitched, looking at me.

"Uh...well..." I glanced around, "...DAD!"

"Huh? What?"

I turned as Dad came walking up to us.

"What is-?...Oh..." Dad's face got kinda pale as he spotted Mithos, who looked like he was about to go into one of his 'moods' again...

"...You...STUPID HUMAN!" Mithos groaned, smacking himself in the face.

"W-what-?" Dad stammered. "Why are you calling me that all of a-!?"

"You were messing with the sword, weren't you!?"

The rest of us stood there and watched as Mithos chewed out Dad. Even though Dad was taller, Mithos seemed to be towering over him at the moment as he yelled at him for 'playing with the fabric of space and time' and saying stuff about the Eternal Sword not being a toy. Kratos and Yuan just kinda stared, I don't think they really got what was going on, while Sari, Malk and I just kind of watched... Something about it was funny... Though wait...

"Uh...Mithos-" I started.

"I can't BELIEVE you took it from me!" Mithos groaned.

"Hey-! It's not like you deserved it anymore-!"

"STILL! They gave it to the monkey with ADHD!?"

"Uh-" I tried again.

"The-!? Hey, I-!" Dad started.

"I can't believe you actually-!"

"MITHOS!" I shouted. "IT WASN'T DAD!"

Mithos and Dad stopped and looked at me.

"...It...wasn't...?" Sari's Dad looked kinda stunned.

"Yeah, it was- uh...what was it...?"

"Apparently the older, less cool me was messing with some technological gadget doohikey and landed me and Kratos here," Yuan shrugged, "...though...technically 'you' are here too...though some lady named Virginia is watching him..."

Mithos didn't seem to know how to respond to that.

"...See? It wasn't MY fault," Dad huffed.

"...Fine, I'm sorry..." Mithos muttered, glaring at him.

"You...really should try to control your anger more, Daddy..." Sari flushed.

"...Wait, so you two really are...from the past?" he asked.

"Yep," Kratos said, trying not to freak out.

Mithos stared a minute and then took a deep breath, looking away.

"So...oh man this is weird..." he groaned.

"Dude, are you one to talk?" Dad blinked.

"Shut up, human," he glared.

"So..." Sari tilted her head, looking at them again, "um..."

"...Why are you looking at us like that?" Yuan huffed.

"W-well...it's just kinda...strange...you're a lot different now..."

"Yeah, we know," Kratos said blandly, "our older selves are pricks..."

I glared.

"H-hey-! No they're-!"

"No, I agree with them," Mithos smirked, "they are pricks."

"Hey!" Dad scoffed.

"Well, dey es kin'a stuffy and uptight an' all," Malk said, reminding me she was still here, "whut wi' all da 'I'm too awesome for you' stuff dey do... By da way, Cher'sa, how is ya granddaddy doin'? I ain't heard much about 'em lately..."

I felt my heart sink.

"Oh...ne'er mind," she flushed, "I...uh..."

Snicker.

"...Huh?"

I looked at Mithos, who was trying not to burst out laughing. I wondered why for a minute before I realized what he was looking at...

"...What?" Yuan asked.

Well...his outfit was kind of dorky... I mean, Chala would kill someone if- CHALA! That's it, I so need pictures, I'll never let her forget this! Though by the look on Dad's face, he's not going to let old Yuan forget it either... Anyway, Mithos snickered a little more before he burst out laughing.

"W- what the HELL are you w-wearing-!? AHAHAHAHAHH!" he laughed.

"...What's wrong with it?" Yuan asked.

"You look like a dork, moron," Kratos rolled his eyes.

"What? No I don't!"

This time, the rest of us started snickering.

"AHAHAHAHAHAHAH!" Sari's dad clutched his gut. "I-! I haven't seen something that funny since-! Since-!"

"Since Rodyle forgot his ritilin?" Sari asked.

"Who?" Kratos, Yuan and I blinked.

"Yeah! That!" Mithos laughed. "That was GREAT!"

Mithos kept laughing, leaning on a palm tree as Dad shrugged.

"Right, so as long as you guys are here...wanna swim and stuff?" he grinned.

"Oh! Oh!" Sari grinned. "I'll go change into my swimsuit!!"

She ran off and her Dad followed her a minute later as he still tried to stop giggling. Oh, and he asked Dad something before he left, but they were whispering really quietly and I couldn't tell what it was... Dammit, I hate being the only one without angel ears... well, except Malk I guess. I just know things would be a lot more convenient if I... Ah, nevermind... I'd get over it...

_Beep beep._

"Aw dammit," Malk muttered, looking at a little watch she had, "I gotta go 'an git ready fa' mah shift... S'rry, Cher'sa, kent stay. See ya later, a' right?"

"Aw..." I frowned. "You really have to go?"

"Yep, I'll catch ya in a li'l bit, a'right?" she grinned. "See ya!"

Then Malk was gone too.

"...You have weird friends," Yuan said.

"...Mm hm..." Kratos said, looking at Yuan's beach outfit.

"...What?"

"...Could you at least lose the glasses?"

"What? Why?"

Dad and I snickered.

"Cricket!"

"Huh?"

"Oh! Hi, Fred!" I grinned.

Kratos and Yuan stared as I crouched down to say hi to Fred, who was sitting on a little shell someone had left on the beach. Hm, he looks kinda scared...

"...Did she just call a cricket, 'Fred'?" I heard Yuan ask Kratos.

"...Lloyd, is she a little...messed up, or-?"

"What? Of course not!" Dad scoffed. "She's calling it Fred because his name is Fred, duh."

"...So you all talk to a cricket..."

"...Er, well...yeah..."

I kinda tuned out the rest as Fred cricked a lot. I couldn't quite tell what he was saying, maybe just a few words here and there... He shows up so much you think I would've learned how to understand him by now, but it's not like I can understand Noishe either... Fred seemed really upset about something, but I couldn't tell what.

"Crickety crick crickee! Crickee!"

"...Look, I have no idea what you're saying..." I sighed.

I'm not sure if bugs can glare, but I could've sworn Fred did. He cricked at me one more time before hopping off and disappearing, I think I made him mad... Geez, I really had to learn how to talk to that bug... Maybe Martel could help me out with that? Or Maxwell or somebody? Hm...I'd ask next time...

"...Uh-oh," Dad said suddenly.

"Huh?" I looked up. "Uh-oh what?"

"..." Dad was looking off toward the hotel like he was scared of something.

"What-?" I started.

...Oh...that was what...

"...Uh...H-hi, Dad..." Dad laughed nervously, "Uhm...we were just-"

Dad cut off when Grampa glared at him, one of those really bad ones he gives only when he's mad...which meant we were in trouble.

"..." Grampa started walking forward, eyes locked on us.

"...I think I just shit myself," Yuan muttered.

Kratos shuddered.

"So..." Grampa started, in one of his slow, calm, 'I'm going to skin you alive' voices, "we let you had some free reign, what do you do? You decimate the cafeteria..."

We were all trying not to breathe at this point.

"So then, we place them in the cells to keep them from causing trouble..." Grampa continued matter-of-factly, "and what happens? The 'adult' that was supposed to be watching them...lets them _out_..."

"Uh- well you see-" Dad stammered.

"And takes them to _Altimira_?" Grampa hissed.

"...Uh..." Dad trailed, looking around.

"...Well, what do you have to say for yourself, Lloyd?"

"...Uh...I...I...uh..."

"..." Grampa glared.

"...I want to live? Please don't kill me?"

Kratos mock applauded.

"Bravo, really proved your case there Lloyd ol' buddy," he rolled his eyes.

"You were not given permission to speak," Grampa glared at him.

"Oh, well SOOORRRRRY your highness," Kratos scoffed, "next time I'll check with you before deciding to sneeze or not, okay?"

Then I realized I was seeing something amazing. I was watching Grampa argue with himself...literally... WOW! This is so cool!! Apparently Dad thinks it is too, because he's watching without looking like he wants to scream.

"...Sarcasm will not aid you," Grampa stated.

"Do you always have to sound like that?" he huffed. "Geez...you sound like you've got a stick up your ass, you old fart."

"Hey-!" I shouted. "He's not a-!"

"Call me what you will," Grampa huffed, "regardless, I'll be taking you back now-"

"Oh come on!!" Yuan snapped.

"...Look, I realize you don't want to be contained-" Grampa sighed.

"Nooooo, what gave you that idea?" Kratos rolled his eyes.

"...If you would stop with these escapades we might be a little more hospitable, until then however I'll be taking all of you back and keeping an eye on Lloyd and Cheresea to make sure they don't let you out again," he stated.

"Oh yeah? Who's gonna make us?" Yuan asked.

I stared at him.

"What?"

He did not just say that...

"..." I blinked, wondering if I should tell him to run or not...

"Hi, Kratos!"

Huh-? Hey, Sari and Mithos are back!

"..." Grampa turned to look at them.

"So," Mithos chuckled nervously, "uh...I take it you've seen them..?"

"...That would be a bit obvious, wouldn't it?" Grampa hissed at him.

Mithos flinched, "C'mon, Kratos...why do you always have to talk like that...?"

"You've come to take them back, haven't you?" Sari whined. "Oh man, I just got out here, Kratos!"

Kratos- the other one- kinda flinched...I mean, this was bothering him the most probably...

"...It's necessary that they are return to their own time immediately, you should know that-"

"What? Is that machine fixed?" Yuan asked hopefully.

"No, however that is no reason for you to be gallivanting around-"

"And you wonder where Lloyd and Cheresea get it," Mithos rolled his eyes.

"..." Grampa glared at him.

"...Uh-"

"I'd suggest shutting your mouth before I do so for you," Grampa hissed.

Yuan whistled.

"Damn, Kratos...you're scary when you're old," he said.

"Yeah, well...you're a priss and Mithos' looks gay, what else is new?"

Yuan glared at him and he smirked.

"Hey-! I do not look-!"

Dad laughed.

"Shut up you-!!"

"Wait, lemme guess-" Dad started with a smirk.

"Say it again and I swear I'll blast you to high hell!!"

"..." Kratos nudged me, "This happen a lot?"

"Yeah, you should've seen when they were fighting over the cupcake," I grinned.

"It was funny," Sari giggled.

Yuan and Kratos looked at her.

"...Uhm...what...?" she asked.

"...So you are Mithos' kid, right...?" Yuan trailed, frowning.

"Uh...yes..." Sari said slowly, moving closer to me and further from them.

"...This...this is just way too weird..." he groaned, rubbing his forehead.

"Yuan, it's been weird since we got here," Kratos pointed out.

"But still!"

"Well it could be a lot- HEY! PUT ME DOWN-!!"

"Woah-!"

I covered my mouth when Grampa picked both of them up by the collars.

"You two are coming back, whether you wish to or not," he stated.

"Hey-! Put us down you-!"

"Wait, question!" Yuan said suddenly.

We all looked at him.

"...If Kratos just picked Kratos up, isn't that a time paradox and shouldn't the universe like...implode or something?" he asked.

Everyone stared and Grampa, Dad, Kratos and I all 'dot dot dot'ed.

"...You know, he kind of has a point..." Sari bit her lip.

"...Why would that make the universe implode?" I blinked.

This time they all 'dotted' at me.

"..What? Seriously, I just don't get that part..." I muttered.

"...Okay, please tell me she got her 'brains' from Lloyd, and Lloyd got his 'brains' from his Mother, please tell me that," Kratos asked Grampa.

"..."

"...Hey! Are you saying I'm stupid?!" I snapped.

"No, genius, I was saying both of you were," he rolled his eyes.

My eye twitched.

"You-!"

"That's enough," Grampa stated, "now you two are coming back with me, Lloyd, you should take Cheresea home."

"But-!" we all started.

"..." Grampa stopped what he was about to say, then looked at Yuan.

"...What?" he asked.

"...What the hell are you wearing...?" Grampa said slowly.

"Hey! What's wrong with it!?"

"...Excuse me a moment..." he put them down.

Grampa turned and walked off into an alley... I could've sworn I heard laughter before he walked back out looking like he normally did... Huh? That's weird...

"Right...at any rate..." he coughed.

"HAH!" Kratos cheered. "See?! I'm not COMPLETELY gone! I still realize a grade-A dork when I see one!"

"What about this outfit is dorky!? What?!"

Sari and I broke out laughing.

"What?! Come on!! I-! AH!"

All of us flinched when Yuan suddenly got hit with a ball of electricity... He fell down and a second later Chala had appeared, grabbed him by the collar and yanked him up to eye level glaring one of her worst glares.

"What the HELL do you think you're wearing?!" she roared.

"H-huh-? When did YOU get here-!?"

"Do you realize what you're doing to my reputation!?" Chala shook him back and forth. "Do you!? DO YOU!?"

"H-h-h-h-e-e-e-e-e-y-y-y-!!" Yuan tried to say as she shook him.

"You go back in there and change right this second or I SWEAR I will make your life a living hell from this point forward! Do you understand me?!" she screeched.

We had stopped laughing. I slowly looked at Kratos, who looked back at me. After a moment he smirked and I burst out laughing as he did too.

"What the hell are YOU laughing at?!" Chala rounded on us.

"Nothing!" I squeaked.

"Chala, what are you doing here?" Grampa asked.

"What-?!" she snapped, then stopped. "Oh...right, of course... Father wants you to keep them here."

"Huh?" Kratos and I blinked.

"What?" Yuan stared.

"Wha? Why?" Dad looked confused.

"...There's a...complication," Chala said softly.

"...What type of complication?"

"A complication about a certain elven woman getting her nose in what it doesn't belong," she said darkly, "a certain...obsessive, one..."

"You mean Abigal-?" I started.

Then she covered my mouth.

"Mff-!" I started.

"Be quiet," she hissed.

"Mff!"

Be quiet?! What for?! It's not like they knew who that was-...right?

"..." Grampa looked a bit pale, "...I...see..."

"Huh? Who are you guys talking about?" Kratos asked.

"Well...what harm can she do, really?" Dad asked.

"To us, nothing," Chala looked at him, then slightly nodded her head toward Kratos.

...Huh?

"...I don't-" Dad's eyes widened, "OH! Oooooohhhhhh...right..."

"What are you guys talking about?!" Yuan huffed.

"I'm as clueless as you are..." I muttered, seeing as Chala finally let me go.

"..."

"...What?" I asked.

"Well..." Dad frowned.

"..." Grampa sighed, "In that case...Mithos."

"Yeah?" Mithos looked at him.

"...Would you and Chala please make sure they don't cause any more trouble?"

"...Hey!" Kratos, Yuan and I snapped.

"Huh? Where are you going-?" Dad started.

"I'm going to go tell Colette about the situation, she's no doubt concerned about you and Cheresea you do realize," he stated, "afterward I'll come check in on you all, depending on what time it is..."

"Well...okay, if- hey wait! Doesn't Colette know we went to the base!?"

"..." Grampa looked at me, then Dad did.

"..." I paled, "uh..."

"...Cheresea..." Dad said slowly, "you did tell her...didn't...you...?"

"..."

I smiled nervously.

"..."

A few minutes of scolding later, I was grounded. I groaned as I sat on the chair inside of Sari's house and looked out the window. Not only did Grampa up and leave again, but he left us with Chala and... I mean, I realize Abigal's annoying but why did...? Oh whatever, I just know this sucks...I couldn't stay on the beach and play with Sari and them! I knew I shouldn't have left telling Mom to Noishe...

"...Well, you don't look too happy,"

I looked up at Kratos.

"Of course I'm not, I'm grounded!" I groaned.

"Well...kinda your own fault though, isn't it?" he shrugged.

I glared at him.

"..." he stared at me.

"...W-what...?" I stammered.

"...Yuan wasn't kidding," he groaned, "you do have my glare..."

"...What's wrong with that?" I asked, frowning.

"H-huh? Well...nothing, I guess...you're just a little...I mean..."

I blinked.

"..." I flinched, realizing what he meant, "o-oh...I'm sorry."

"Huh? What're you apologizing for?" he blinked.

"It's...got to bother you, I mean, seeing I'm...you know," I blushed.

"..." he sighed, "yeah, well...gotta be just as weird for you."

I groaned, "I'm so bored!"

"Bored?" he raised an eyebrow.

"I'm not allowed to go outside or anything while Sari and the others are having fun!" I groaned. "I-...hey, wait a second...what're you doing in here?"

After all, I was sent up here for my punishment...

"Your Dad asked me to check on you," he shrugged, "told me the room number and stuff...so, this is...uh, your friend's place, right?"

"Sari? Yeah," I nodded, "her and her Dad."

Wait a minute...

"Oh yeah...her Dad's...yeah, that's gotta be weird..." I blushed.

He laughed.

"I'm talking to my own granddaughter, you saying that's not weird?"

"R-right..." I blushed, laughing a bit, "I'm sorry."

"What's with you and saying sorry? You didn't do anything," he scoffed.

"Oh...I'm sor-" I stopped myself, "..."

"Well, you caught yourself that time," he noted, "...by the way..."

Kratos glanced around a bit before looking back at me.

"...Do you...that is, could you tell me how it is that I get to be that old and look that young?" he asked, referring to...himself.

"...It's a long story," I said, "I didn't even know he was that old until about a year ago..."

"Seriously? He only looks old enough to be your cousin or something," Kratos raised an eyebrow, "you really didn't know he was old?"

"Huh? Well, I knew he was my grampa-"

"And you didn't wonder why your grampa looked like a twenty-something year old?" he raised the eyebrow further.

"Well...I...um..." I flushed.

"Well?"

"...Well, my dad only looks like he's that age too..." I pointed out, laughing nervously.

"Yeah, that's the point, how come none of you age?"

"Huh? That's not true, I age," I pointed out, "all of us do, just...um...not some of us."

"Right..." he trailed.

There was a bit of a silence.

"...So, uh...what's with the eyes?"

I blinked. Eyes? What eyes?

"Huh-?"

"Y'know...the snake-eyes he's got going," he glanced aside.

I slumped over.

"H-hey-! Are you okay-?"

"I'm fine," I sighed, "I just...ooh..."

I groaned. He had to bring that up? Damn Nagas...damn it all... I looked up at Kratos. He was my GRAMPA...or was going to be, anyway... He didn't know that one day he'd have to deal with all that and...he didn't know that one day he was going to look me in the eye like he's doing now and tell me to...'stop him'... They have the same face, I mean, that's obvious and stuff but...y'know, the same expression like when he told me that, his eyes all concerned looking- ...Wait, Kratos looked concerned?

"..." I blinked, "...what's with that look?"

"Huh? What look?" he asked.

"You looked like you're worried about something..." I trailed.

"Well...you did kinda worry me there," he said.

Something in my head went 'ding!'.

"You're worried about me?" I gasped, starting to smile.

"Uh...yeah...? What's so strange about that?" he asked.

I giggled.

"...Okay, now you're REALLY worrying me...what's got you so happy?"

"You do like me!" I grinned.

Apparently I lost him at that.

"Uh...what?" he shook his head.

"Well you'd only be worrying about me if you liked me, right?" I grinned.

"..." he blinked, "I...guess..."

I grinned.

"...So what's your point?"

"Well...it makes me happy," I smiled.

"...What does?"

"That you like me, dork!" I huffed.

"...Why would that make you happy?" he asked.

"Huh?" I blinked. "Well...don't you get happy when your family shows they like y-?"

I cut off when I saw the look on his face.

"...Nah," he shrugged and glanced aside, "not really..."

"...They...do do that, don't they?" I asked.

He laughed, a really sarcastic sort of laugh.

"Let's just say I'm not the most cherished kid in the world," he smirked.

"..."

"...Look," he sighed, seeing my face, "...my parents weren't married, and I don't know who my Dad was so...my family just kind of...well, they don't like me much."

"...That's..."

I felt my lip quiver, my eyes itching a bit.

"...Hey, are you okay-?"

"That's awful!" I cried.

"W-what? Well, yeah, but it's fi-" he started.

"How can they do that just because your parents-!?" I cried. "It's not your fault they didn't get married or your Dad didn't stick around! Why did they blame it on you!?"

"Hey, it's not that big a deal, you don't need to get so upset-" he said.

"It is a big deal!" I snapped. "How can people treat someone like that for something that's not their fault?! That doesn't make any sense! It's just-! Wrong! How can people do stuff like that?!"

"..." he sighed, "look, the world's a mean place, get used to it. People can do a LOT of things...obviously you haven't seen much of it."

...Well...it was true, I hadn't really known people for a long time... Chala always tells me I'm too naïve...but...is it really naïve just to want people to be nice? Somehow that doesn't seem quite right either...

"...So..." he trailed, "...what've you been doing up here?"

"Nothing," I sighed, "there's nothing to do."

"Hm..."

He looked like he was thinking a moment before he pulled something out of his pocket.

"Ever play poker?"

Cards?

"...No," I shook my head, "Grampa never let me."

He scowled, "what-? That old bastard-! Ugh...look, I'll show you-"

"Show me-? You mean teach me?" I blinked.

"Yeah," He nodded, then smirked, "I kick ASS at this game...clear Yuan out every single time, hehehehe..."

...I should ask the older Yuan if he still does...

"So," he grinned, sitting down across the table from me, "here's how it works."

A few minutes later, I was learning how to play poker. It was really complicated, like which ones were better than other ones...

"Um..." I looked at my hand, "is this good?"

Kratos' eye twitched.

"...W-what...?"

"That's a royal flush!!" he cried.

"...Is that good?" I blinked.

He groaned, slouching back in the chair.

"Is it g-?! ARGH! You're such a ditz you don't even realize it-!!"

"Hey! Stop calling me a ditz!" I cried.

He groaned, "...Yes, a royal flush is good."

"It is? Great!" I grinned.

"Wow, sweet irony..." he groaned.

The door opened.

"There you are!" Dad said. "Geez, I was worried when he didn't come back-...were you two playing cards?"

I nodded, "Kratos was teaching me."

"..."

"...What?" Kratos asked.

"Well damn! Why didn't you tell me?!" Dad scoffed, pulling up a chair. "Winner gets a thousand gald!"

"You are so on," Kratos said, grabbing his cards.

Just then the door opened again.

"Hmph, so you were in here..."

"Grampa!" I cried, standing up.

"Mithos told me you three went up here..." he stated, "he's a little perplexed as to why you didn't come back down however..."

"And what the hell are you doing here?" Kratos hissed.

"I said earlier I'd come check on you all," he said.

"Huh?" I blinked. "So...what's going on? Are we going back home or what?"

"It's a few hours to nightfall," he stated, "it's too late to travel, I already told your mother where you were so you should just stay here the night."

"Oh..." Dad trailed.

"Wait, so you're not staying?" I asked, stunned.

"..." Grampa looked at the table, "and what exactly were you three doing?"

"Poker," Kratos shrugged, "so?"

"..." Grampa simply blinked.

"Well 'dot dot dot' to you too," he huffed, "now if you don't mind, I was about to throughly whoop Lloyd's ass in a game."

"Hah! In your dreams!" Dad said.

"...I wouldn't get so cocky," Grampa stated.

"Huh?"

Grampa paused a moment and then continued, "I was quite the card-player in my youth, is all... Don't bet too much."

Dad and I stared, registering what had just happened.

"Wait..." I started.

"Damn straight," Kratos smirked, "huh, looks like you're not as stiff as a thought."

"Hmph."

"Now, who wants to get owned?" Kratos grinned.

"But you said I did good..." I said.

Kratos flinched and Grampa raised an eyebrow.

"...You did?" he asked me.

"Well, I guess I did..." I trailed, "he told me I was good at it but I'm not quite sure what I was doing..."

"...Really then, let's see it," Grampa stated.

"Huh?" all three of us blinked.

"..." Grampa gestured, "play."

"..." Dad and I stared.

"Well-..." a really crafty looking smile spread on Kratos' face, "okay then...we'll play, but only if you do too!"

"What-!?"

"Huh!?"

"..."

"W-why would you-?" I started.

"I just want to see if I still got game in the future," Kratos said, "so pull up a chair old man, I want to know if I lose my touch or not!"

"...I-"

"See!? I knew they'd be goofing off!"

Yuan, Chala, Mithos and Sari were here now and Yuan looked really mad.

"Well..." Sari trailed.

"You're going to play poker, Kratos?" Mithos asked.

"I-"

Sari laughed, "yeah right! He hasn't done anything like that for-! A long time!"

"..."

"Well hell, I'll play a round," Yuan smiled, "chances are I'll be able to get a LITTLE bit...especially from the dumbass."

"I agree, let's do it," Chala smirked.

"Hey-!" Dad started.

"Oh! Can we play, Daddy? Please?" Sari asked.

"...Okay, okay..." he sighed, "one game."

"Yay!"

"Well, that's everyone except you," Kratos smirked at Grampa.

"..."

"He's probably just afraid he'll get owned," Mithos scoffed.

"Pardon?"

"Well...geez, Kratos, I can't remember the last time you played a game..."

"..."

"...Just one, Grampa?" I asked.

Grampa hesitated a minute, looking at us and then at Kratos smirking at him. After a moment Grampa sighed and pulled up a chair between me and Dad.

"A quick one," he said.

"All RIGHT!" Kratos said. "There we go, see? Not too hard acting like a human being."

"..." Grampa glared at him.

...Though now that I think about it, this is kinda sad, isn't it? Kratos is doing this because he wants to see Grampa still act something like him...and Grampa's probably upset a bit that that's happened, well, I guess anyway...

"All right then...let's play!" Yuan said.

A few minutes later...

"I fold," Mithos groaned, putting down his cards.

"Aw, out already?" Dad grinned.

"Don't you grin at me you-!"

"Daddy," Sari glared.

"...Fine," Mithos huffed.

"...Mithos has issues when he gets older..." Yuan muttered to Kratos.

"No kidding..."

"I heard that!"

After a few more minutes Yuan, Sari, Chala and Dad folded. By some miracle I was left with...them.

"Hm...you do have an insane amount of luck..." Grampa smiled slightly.

"Hey!" I whined. "Maybe I'm just good at it!"

"..."

"Luck," Kratos said.

"Jerk!"

"Right, well..." Kratos smirked, "I'm just glad to see I haven't lost my touch."

"Hmph," Grampa huffed.

Apparently he hadn't, I dropped out after a couple more minutes.

"Okay...straight in diamonds," Kratos flashed the cards.

Grampa smirked slightly.

"...I don't like that..." Kratos frowned.

"...Um...what does it mean if you have four aces?" I asked.

"Huh?" Kratos looked at me.

"That's what Grampa has..." I pointed.

Grampa sighed, "Cheresea, you're not supposed to tell them what you have."

"O-oh..." I blushed.

"H-he has what?!" Kratos stammered.

Grampa laid his cards out on the table.

"I believe I won," he smirked.

"..." Kratos' eye twitched. "You..."

Grampa stood up and smirked, "Better luck next time."

"Oo!" Dad flinched. "You just got owned! By yourself!"

"Think of it this way," Yuan said to Kratos, who was twitching, "in another couple thousand years, you'll be the one making yourself look like an idiot! ...Wait, that didn't come out quite right..."

"..." Grampa jolted suddenly, "What time is it?"

Mithos looked at the clock, "uh...six forty-five-"

Grampa headed for the door.

"H-huh? Grampa, where are you-?" I started.

"I'll see you in the morning," he stated.

"What? But-!"

"Huh? Where are you going?" Kratos asked suspiciously.

"None of your concern," Grampa hissed.

"Hey-!" I moved forward as he headed for the door.

Then I stopped when Dad grabbed me by the shoulder.

"What the-!? Dad-!"

"We'll see you tomorrow, take care," Dad said.

"..." Grampa nodded and then left.

"What the-!? Dad! What was that about?! Why'd you stop me!?"

"Mithos, did you want us to help cook something up?" Dad asked. "I mean, we are staying in your house for tonight and all."

"Uh...right," Mithos nodded.

Before I knew it, everyone had just up and went somewhere else.

I groaned, "Why does this always happen...?"

"...Hey...um..." Kratos trailed.

I grunted, still looking off where Grampa left.

"...Hey, uh...been meaning to ask, are you a swordsman?"

"Huh?" I blinked. "Well, yeah...that's why I have a sword..."

"Huh," he frowned, "don't know many chicks that do that."

"Well sorry," I huffed.

"Hey, didn't mean to offend...so who taught you?"

I giggled.

"What?" he blinked.

"You did," I smiled nervously.

"...Damn," he muttered.

"Huh? What?"

"Well...I never saw me as being much of a fighter- Well okay, maybe a fighter just not an actual swordsman or anything..." he trailed.

"That's nothing!" Sari chirped, popping out of nowhere. "You also taught Lloyd and Daddy, too!"

"What?" scoffed Yuan. "Psh, yeah right! Kratos can't even hold a sword right!"

He...can't...? I stared at him, it was kinda hard to imagine that.

"I can so!" he huffed.

"That's an amusing thing to picture, however..." Chala smirked.

"Just like your Dad dressed in his beach wear, huh?" I pointed at Yuan.

Chala's eye twitched.

"Oooooohhhh...buuuuuurrrnnn..." Kratos laughed.

"Shut up, tomato-boy," she hissed.

Kratos glared at her and Yuan laughed this time.

"Cheese boy," Sari said with a smirk.

"And WHAT are you suggesting is wrong with cheese?!" Chala glared.

"Yeah! What she said!" Yuan snapped.

"Oh, nothing..." Sari rolled her eyes.

CLANG!

"AGH! DAMMIT, MITHOS! YOU DROPPED THAT ON MY FOOT!"

"Well gee, if you hadn't tripped me right there then maybe I wouldn't have dropped it!"

Dad and Mithos began to argue and we all dot-dot-dotted.

"...Sari, right?" Yuan asked. "I've been meaning to ask..."

"Huh? What?"

"...Why does your Dad look like you without a chest?"

I'd never seen Chala laugh so hard in my life.

**Cheresea: Well...uhm...that's not nice but...**

**Freaky: Who cares?! XD But oh, poor Sari...n.n**

**Holy Spork: Oh dear, how is this going to go wrong?  
**

**Young Kratos: ...Oh no...**


	7. Some Thoughts on Insanity

Young Kratos: Oh gods, you're reviving this too? NOOOOO!

Spork: Sorry for the wait.

Cheresea: SKLEE! (hugs Y.Kratos) I missed you!

Freaky: Careful there, Cheresea. n.n Holy Spork and Freakyanimegal456 own nothing!

* * *

**Past Spirits**

**Chapter Seven: Some Thoughts on Insanity**

**Young Kratos' P.O.V.**

"Hey, Kratos."

"Mrmph..."

"You awake?"

"Hm... muffinplz... zzz..."

"Hey."

I felt something poke me in the back.

"You awake?"

"Go to hell Yuan," I groaned.

"You're in an unusually good mood."

"I was sleeping."

"And now you're not."

...Stupid half-elf.

I opened my eyes. I glanced over at a clock hanging on the wall nearby.

It's 12:23 at night.

So, yeah, after today's 'excitement' everyone was pretty tired. But it turned out there wasn't enough space for Yuan and me to sleep except in what served as the living room, on a couple of couches. This didn't really bother me or Yuan, but then, I can sleep on any available surface as long as it's dry, flat, and doesn't try to eat me. You'd be surprised how many surfaces don't fulfill all those conditions.

I rolled over so I could look the stupid half-elf in the face. He was standing over me. Apparently he was awake enough to walk over to where I was sleeping. "What's so important you had to wake me up for it?"

"I wanted to wait until I was sure the others were asleep," Yuan explained.

I groaned, sat up, and rubbed my eyes. "Just spit it out then, I like sleeping."

"You want to head for the hills?"

"What?" I asked, trying to figure out what he was going on about.

"Leave, I meant," he clarified. "No one's awake in the apartment here, and there's people leaving the hotel all the time, so no one would give us a second glance if we walked out, took a Rheaird, and disappeared."

...Oh.

"Why the rush?" I asked, leaning against the back of the couch. "If we stay around here, then we don't have to worry about anyone chasing us, and there's free food. Free food is always a bonus, yeah?"

Yuan rolled his eyes.

"Anyway," I continued. "I don't see why we have to go anywhere."

Yuan blinked. "I thought you'd be the first to want to get out of here."

"Yeah, well, I'm fine here," I crossed my arms. "Now I'm going back to sleep - "

"You sure you're gonna be okay staying here?" Yuan asked, looking worried.

I sighed. "The older me said he wouldn't do anything as long as we _stayed_ here. No one else minds us hanging on, and I don't think we'll run out of things to do here."

"...Have you actually forgotten already?" Yuan demanded. He looked as if he wanted to shout at me, and the only reason he wasn't was because he didn't want to wake the neighbors. "We've been here for under twenty-four hours - not that long at all. Unless you've been magically cured, they're going to find out about the - " he mimed fainting, " - thing. I just figured you wouldn't want Chala and the others to find out."

...Oh...

"Yeah," Yuan said. The look on my face must've said 'oh crap, I forgot about that'. "I thought that would be it."

"We can't just take off again," I began, trying to think. "They'll just find us again, and if they don't find us, then we won't get home!"

"Hadn't thought of that..." admitted Yuan. He glared at me. "I hate it when you get smart like that. You're supposed to be the stupid one!"

"In your face, then," I smirked. "Now I'm going back to sleep."

"Well," persisted the mad half-elf. "If you go all weird on us, how do you want me to convince the others you're not insane?"

"Go to sleep Yuan."

"I mean, you don't want your granddaughter to think grampa is schizo, right?"

"Can it, Ponytail, and go to sleep!"

"Yeah, because hearing voices is perfectly normal, right?"

"Nothing is going to happen! They'll fix that stupid machine and we'll go home before anyone notices anything weird! Now shut up!"

"Of course, ignoring a problem always makes it go away."

"I said, _shut up_!"

"Hey, I always thought a straight jacket would look good on you."

I glared at him.

"Shutting up, shutting up," muttered Yuan, scuttling back to the couch he had been sleeping on.

At long last.

"...I'm sure those padded cells are really comfortable."

I jumped to my feet, ready to commit murder.

"Shutting up! For real!" Yuan quavered.

"Good," I snapped, settling back down.

The mad half-elf has a point though, but not I'm going to admit that to him. What if I do... have an attack, or whatever it is? I barely managed to convince Yuan I'm not insane, and I'm sure he still has his doubts... What would I do with these people?

I gritted my teeth at the thought. Why am I letting myself get all worked up? The older Yuan is going to fix that stupid machine, and we'll all go home before anything bad happens.

I'm not crazy, I'm not crazy, I'm not crazy, I'm not crazy...

Damn Yuan. Just... damn him.

There's no way I'll get back to sleep now...

...I'm not crazy...

* * *

"...He's _still_ sleeping?"

"This is typical Kratos behavior. He usually sleeps to anytime between ten and noon, unless he's rudely woken up."

"...Did you have something in mind?"

"Actually, I did."

There was a lot of muttering, then it got really quiet for a while.

"Okay, on three, all right? One... two..."

Wait a minute...

"THREE!"

"I'M AWAKE!" I shouted. "DON'T DUMP ANYTHING ON ME YOU MAD - "

I stopped shouting when I realized neither Yuan nor Chala - who had been the ones talking before - were holding buckets of water or cans of tomato juice. They had tricked me.

"Wow," Yuan was smug as ever, as I fumed. "I guess this means we can save water by just pretending we're about to wake you up by dumping water on you."

I glared at Yuan and Chala. Damn, they look so much alike, it's creepy.

"Did you really have to do that?" I snapped, trying to ignore the fact that they have the _exact same smirk_.

"I thought it was... entertaining," said Chala, who I had already labeled as the sadistic one.

Yuan nodded. "Agreed!" He raised his hand to get a high-five, but she just glared at him. He deflated immediately.

"Ha, ha," I smirked back at him.

"Shuddap," Yuan grunted.

Understand, I'm not a morning person. I'm even less of a morning person if an idiot like Yuan feels the need to torture me and wake me up obscenely early.

And now I need coffee... RIGHT NOW!

Yuan's eyes suddenly went wide. "Back away!" Yuan shouted. "I know that look! He's going into caffeine withdrawal!"

"I DO NOT HAVE A CAFFEINE ADDICTION!" I yelled at him. "I JUST LIKE SOME COFFE IN THE MORNING!"

"Sure, whatever you say," Yuan, sounded like he was trying to calm down a rabid dog or something. "Just go and get your coffee and don't kill us!"

Damn, he's really overreacting today. You'd think I was insane or something.

I found the kitchen easily enough, but...

"WHERE THE HELL IS THE COFFEE KEPT?!" I yelled.

"FIND IT YOURSELF, LAZY ASS!" shouted Chala from the other room.

"Fine, be that way," I muttered under my breath.

It took me ten minutes to find all the stuff I needed to make a cup of coffee, and then another five before I actually had any.

As I sat down at the kitchen table, clutching a mug filled with the essence of life, Cheresea walked in, and glanced over at me nervously. Man, everyone today is treating me like a punching bag or a wild tiger.

"Um..." she began.

"What?" I snapped.

Chersea looked hurt.

Damn.

"Look, I'm not exactly a morning person, all right?" I said, trying not to sound like an asshole. "Just give me a few minutes."

She just sat down quietly, and waited until I'd finished my coffee.

"Hey, Cheresea..."

Cheresea and me looked up, and saw Sari walk in. She spotted me. "Oh..." she said, a little meekly. Looks like she had forgotten about me.

"And hello to you too," I muttered.

"Hi, Kratos," Sari said.

She sat down next to Cheresea.

"Still can't go without your coffee in the morning?" Sari asked, sounding like she was trying to make small talk.

"I'mnotcaffeinedependent..." I muttered under my breath. Then I realized something. "Wait, what do you mean by 'still'?"

Sari looked embarrassed. "N-nothing."

Whatever.

"What'd I miss?"

We all looked up and saw Yuan wandering in. He spotted me, and the mug of coffee. "Getting your fix?"

...This is getting old.

Chala followed him in.

"Now that the addict has had his fix..." Chala started. I opened my mouth to yell again that I didn't have a caffeine addiction, when she grabbed me by the collar of my shirt, her eyes alight with insanity.

I remembered this scenario from back at the base.

"TELL ME ABOUT THE PAST!" she shouted at my face. "HOW DIFFERENT IS IT? IS THERE ANYTHING HERE YOU RECOGNIZE?"

"What if I don't want to tell you anything?" I snapped, trying not to let her know just how damn scary she is. "I mean, how come you can spit in _my _face and demand to know about _my _life, but I have to be left in the dark about you guys?"

"Yes, but," Chala began with that evil smirk, "if you tell us stuff then that won't change history. SO YOU'D BETTER TELL ME WHAT I WANT TO KNOW, OR _ELSE_!"

I knew all half-elves were nuts, but she has raised the bar. I mean, spittle never entered into the equation before now.

"...Hey, Chala."

Chala and me looked over at Cheresea, who had a thoughtful look on her face.

"I was just thinking... I've actually been wondering for a while now... How come the younger Kratos and Yuan speak the same language as us? I thought languages change over time."

"Don't encourage her!" I shouted.

Chala's eyes sparkled. "THAT'S A GREAT IDEA!"

I twisted out of Chala's grip and ran for it.

"GET BACK HERE!"

This isn't a really big apartment, so there aren't a lot of places I can run to. In fact, there's so little room, I ended up running into something.

It went "Ow."

I looked up at what I'd run into. Wait a minute... I'd run into somebody.

"M-Mithos!" I shouted. I mean, I'd already met him, the future Mithos. But I'd known the guy as a slightly mad toddler, and here he is now, older than I am, and a dad, of all things. This couldn't be any more surreal if it included melting clocks.

"What's the matter?" he asked, looking puzzled.

"Hey, Mithos, we're friends, right?" I asked, straining to hear if Chala was coming this way yet.

Mithos raised an eyebrow. "Uh..."

"Then if Chala asks where I went, tell her I jumped out the window or something!"

I hid under a table with a really drape-y tablecloth. Of course, now I can't see anything.

Soon I heard footsteps.

"Where'd Kratos go?!" I heard Chala shout, probably at Mithos. I grinned. Sucker.

"...Is there a reason?" Mithos asked. He sounds as if he's had to deal with Chala in Completely Mad mode before.

"I just want to ask him a few questions," Chala replied, stubbornly.

"...He's hiding under the table."

Mithos just ratted me out!

That son of a bi - !

"OW!"

I felt something grab my foot and yank me out from under the safety of the table.

"I'm not gonna dissect you," said Chala, though she seemed disappointed.

"...You're not?" I asked, bewildered. Is she bipolar too?

"No," Cheresea replied, before Chala could open her mouth again. I get the feeling Cheresea told Chala off before they came to fetch me.

"...Yay, I guess." This is kinda awkward... "Can you let me go now?"

Mithos blinked and just generally looked bewildered as I stood up again.

"...That was odd," he said, sound weirded out.

"Daddy, it's been odd for a while now," Sari pointed out.

Yeah, seeing somebody that looks like the Kratos they knew actually, you know, act like a human being must be really weird.

"But..." Sari continued. "That was kinda funny. Hehehehe..."

I stared at her. Now _she's_ acting like the mad little toddler Mithos.

Yuan blinked. "...That was scary... I mean, she looks just like Mithos..."

"People say that a lot," said Sari with a slightly scary smile.

...Not surprising, as we've previously established that Mithos and Sari are basically clones, except for the hair color and the chest.

Which makes me wonder who is more effeminate, Yuan or Chala...

...Oh gods, BAD THOUGHTS!

"...You're not paying attention again, are you Kratos?"

I blinked. "Huh?"

Yuan scowled. "I said, you're not paying attention again, are you?"

"No, not really," I replied. Yuan rolled his eyes.

"Well, for the spikey-haired twit who wasn't listening," Chala began, "We're heading out now."

"Yeah, we haven't even done half the stuff in the amusement park yet!" Cheresea chirped.

I buried my face in my hands. Not more roller coasters... Nooooooooo... the horror...

"C'mon, it won't be that bad!" Chersea chirped. Then she grabbed my wrist and started dragging me away.

"Don't I have a say in this?!"

"I guess not," Yuan said, that annoying trademark smirk of his back in place.

Inevitably, we were all ended up heading out of the hotel. (Imagine all of us trying to fit in one elevator. Dear gods, I'll never forget that, even when I live to be fifty million years old...)

We'd made it to the lobby, Cheresea walking next to me while her friends were a head of us. Suddenly she looked up at me. "Hey... Kratos?"

"Yeah? What's..." I trailed off when I saw the look on her face. Something's bothering her. "You okay?"

"It's just... I was wondering... if..." she began. She fidgeted for a moment, then she bit her lip.

"Nevermind."

She scurried off, catching up to her friends, sunny smile back in place. It's like whatever was upsetting her before had just vanished.

...What's wrong? Is she okay? I swear she's bipolar or something...

...Everyone in the futures has problems. And not enough therapists, it looks like.

We leave the hotel, and outside it's bright and sunny, meaning there's enough glare to blind everybody. There are bunny ladies around everywhere already, along with mothers and their shrieking offspring.

I keep walking, I'm not really paying attention to where I'm going. But I realized no one else is following.

I turned around and saw Yuan and the others staring past me, their eyes wide with terror.

"Look out Kratos!" Yuan shouted.

"Wha - ?"

Before I could ask what the hell he was going on about, someone else shouted for me.

"OH, KRAAAAATS!"

A pair of what felt like steel bars wrapped around my chest. I gasped, trying to breathe.

"I found you!" giggled a very familiar voice from behind me.

Oh gods no...

_Abigal_?!

* * *

Spork: Mwahahahaha!

Young Kratos: (-gasps for breath-) I... hate... you... _all_...

Cheresea: EEP! IT'S ABIGAL-!!

Freaky: Oh I love this so...Chala and I are alike in that manner, mwahahahahahaahh!

(Cheresea and Y.Kratos stare at the girls laughing maniacally)

Cheresea:...I'm scared.

Kratos: Let's run while we have the chance.


	8. Troublesome

**Freaky: Okay, I am getting SO TICKED now! This is the third time I've rewritten this chapter because my computer keeps f'ing up on me! What gives, man!?**

**Cheresea: Um...is she okay?**

**Kratos: I hope she's not.**

**Spork: No, you don't _want _her computer to crash! BAD KRATOS!**

_Past Spirits:_

_Chapter Eight: Troublesome_

_-Cheresea's POV._

"SOMEONE GET ME AWAY FROM HER-!!"

"Aw, Krattie, don't you recognize me?" Abigal purred, stroking his cheek.

"GET YOUR HANDS OFF OF HIM YOU-!!" I cried.

"Slut?" Chala supplied.

"Is that ABIGAL!?" Yuan cried, wide-eyed.

"Yep," Mithos said dully.

"SHE'S still alive too?!"

"Yep," Sari sighed.

"...Holy CRAP did she get huge!"

Chala smacked him, though I was a little confused at what he meant.

"Could you guys stop talking and get her away from me!?" Kratos shouted, flailing.

"Kratsy, it's me, Abigal," she smiled. "Aren't you happy to see me?"

"ABIGAL!? ABIGAL Abigal?! Oh dear gods, my stalker still exists in this time?!"

"Stalker?" Abigal looked offended. "I never STALKED-"

"You tied me up, locked me in a closet, then tried to make casts of my - !"

Dad covered my ears, though Sari looked green.

"Well...there was that," Abigal said off handedly once Dad let me go.

"I have a restraining order against you, bitch! Lemme go-!" he cried.

"Though it must've expired several thousand years ago," Yuan pointed out.

"NOT HELPING!"

"Dad! We've gotta get him away from her!" I said.

"Abigal, let him go!" Dad said.

"Or what?" Abigal glared.

"Or I shall be severely displeased."

Huh-? Hey! It's Grampa!

"Kratos-!" Abigal gasped.

Kratos - er, the younger one - noticed she was distracted so he bit her arm. She shrieked and let him go long enough for him to run back over to us faster than I thought was possible then hid behind me.

"Brave," Chala stated.

"Shut up!"

"Dad, when did you get here-?" Dad asked Grampa.

"Approximately forty-five seconds ago," he stated. "I told you I would be back to check on you in the morning, though I did not expect to find her here so early..."

Abigal flinched.

"K-Kratos, I...uh..." she stammered.

"Why the HELL is she here?!" Kratos yelled at Grampa.

"Pretty boys die young, bitches live forever," Chala shrugged.

Ouch.

"Ha hah!" I laughed, grinning.

"So you're gonna get as old as him then, huh?" Kratos pointed at Grampa.

"Hey! Chala's not a b-!"

"Oh for the love of-! First you say HE'S not scary," he moved his head at Grampa, "then you say SHE'S not a bitch," he looked at Chala, "next thing you're gonna be telling me is Lloyd is smart!"

"...Hey!" Dad said after a minute.

"She's gone."

"Huh?" I blinked, looking at Grampa.

He gestured around.

"She's gone,"

"Hey! Abigal's gone!" I said.

"He just said that, genius," Chala stated.

"But where'd she-?"

"She probably chickened out when Kratos - the older one, showed up," Mithos said.

"Yeah," Sari nodded. "I saw her run off..."

"Well, she'll be back soon enough," Grampa stated, "we are going to have to relocate them."

"You mean move them somewhere else?" Dad pointed at Kratos and Yuan.

"Yes, that's the idea."

"We aren't packages, guys," Yuan spat, crossing his arms.

"I would think it best to head back to Iselia," Grampa ignored him, talking to Dad. "I am quite certain Colette will not mind, that, and...Mithos."

"Huh?" Mithos asked.

"Yuan wants you at the Triet Base," he said simply.

"By Yuan you mean the other one, right?" Yuan asked.

"Obviously," Chala spat.

Yuan glared at her.

"Y'know, you're awfully bitchy,"

"Kinda like your mom," Kratos said.

"Yeah, kinda - hey! Your mom isn't exactly a peach either!"

"I got you first," Kratos smirked deviously at him.

Yuan flipped him off.

"Why you damn-!"

They almost launched at each other when Grampa grabbed Kratos by the collar, then Yuan by the collar, holding them apart so that they just barely couldn't reach each other.

"That's enough, fighting is irrelevant and unproductive," he stated.

"Do you ALWAYS have to talk like that?!" Kratos snapped at him.

Grampa ignored him. "Let's take them back to Iselia. Afterward I'll head back to the base to meet up with Mithos and Sari - assuming Sari is going, that is."

"If it's okay, can I go with Daddy?" she asked.

"Huh?" I asked. "You don't want to come with us?"

I was kinda disappointed, after all, she was my friend...

"Huh-? Oh! No, it's not that, I just really want to... and if it's a machine, Genis might be there, that means that Jeremy might be there..." she rubbed the back of her neck.

Aww!

"Oh, I see."

"Jeremy? Isn't he that pink-head kid?" Kratos raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah," I whispered, "Sari's got a crush on him."

"Who the heck was 'Genis'...? Wasn't he that silver-head?...Hm..." Yuan muttered.

"What did father want me to do?" Chala asked Grampa rather suddenly.

"His exact words, I believe, were: 'keep those little punks out of trouble',"

"HEY!" Yuan and Kratos said at the same time.

"Hmph," Grampa snorted, finally letting them go.

"All right," Chala sighed, "if I'm forced to stick with these idiots, I guess I will."

"Who are you calling an idiot?!" Yuan snapped at her.

"You, did I stutter?" she asked plainly.

Yuan glared at her and then sulked a bit, crossing his arms and turning his head to the side.

"...Ouch, at least my future kid doesn't totally diss me," Kratos said.

"Diss?" Dad blinked.

"Yeah, he doesn't seem to have enough brain cells to think up an insult,"

Kratos swiftly punched Yuan hard in the shoulder.

"OW-! SON OF A B-!!" he choked, rubbing his shoulder. "OW! The hell, Kratos?!"

"You had it coming," he said.

"...I'd like to speak with you a moment," Grampa said.

Kratos blinked and looked up at him, an eyebrow raised like he was skeptical who Grampa was talking to. Grampa saw the look and said it again.

"I need to talk to you," he said.

"Me? About what?" Kratos asked, scoffing.

"I have a feeling you know perfectly well 'what'," Grampa said coldly.

...Huh? Did I miss something? What are they talking about-?

"Oh," Kratos said suddenly, "uh...sure, um..."

He began to look around and Grampa started walking off somewhere.

"We can talk over there," he said with his back to us, "Lloyd, you and the others wait here."

"Huh? What's going on?" I asked.

"Uh...Nothing!" Kratos said to me. "The old geezer just wants to talk to me for some reason, I don't know why, but it's okay, I'll be right back. I really don't know why."

"Huh?" I frowned.

Grampa walked off and Kratos followed him. I distinctly heard Yuan snort.

"He's such a fucking crappy liar sometimes," he hissed.

"What? Do you know what's going on, Yuan?"I asked.

"...Sorta," he said, "but if you don't know, I sure as hell am not going to mention it."

"I'm sure it's nothing important," Mithos said kinda hurriedly, "let's just wait."

"Riiiiiight..." Dad said.

He started walking after them.

"W-what? Where do you think you're-?"

"Please, Mithos, I NEVER listen to rules," Dad grinned. "C'mon, Cheresea, I'm curious."

Well, we really shouldn't...but still...

"Okay!" I grinned.

"Are you kidding?" Chala glared. "No, it's unacceptable."

"I REALLY don't think you should go after them," Mithos said a little dangerously.

"What? Why?" Dad looked at him.

"Uh...well..."

"I agree with them, stay put."

"Yuan, you too?!" I cried.

He ignored me.

"...Okay, now I'm REALLY curious," Dad frowned, "I'm going to check it out."

"Me too!" I said.

We started off after them when we saw that they were...already coming back?

"YOU OLD BASTARD! GET BACK HERE AND ANSWER ME!!"

Grampa was walking toward us calmly, while Kratos was following him shouting.

"Uh..." Dad blinked.

"HOW THE HELL CAN YOU SAY THAT AND JUST LEAVE?!" Kratos kept shouting at Grampa. "If you're GONNA mention that then for the love of mana gimme some answers!"  
"Grampa? Kratos? What happened?" I asked.

"Nothing of importance, we should be heading off," he said.

"STOP IGNORING ME!!" Kratos roared at him.

"Ignoring him..." Chala said.

"HEY!"

"Let's head for the base," she said, "then we'll head on to Iselia."

* * *

Wow, Kratos has been really ticked off since we left Altimira. I think his voice has gone hoarse, actually, seeing as he kept yelling at Grampa the whole way to the base... I feel bad saying this, but good thing Grampa's not around right now or maybe he'd still be shouting all the way back to Iselia. ...Darn it! I want to know what happened! I hate being left in the dark! HATE it! That and...he's still grumbling...

"Would you SHUT UP?!" Yuan snapped at him.

"MAKE me shut up, you mad half-elf!"

"Who are YOU calling mad, schizo!?"

Kratos punched him hard in the arm. Schizo? What's that? And why is Chala looking like she just discovered some kind of interesting bacteria?

"We're landing," Dad said, "the town's down there."

"That little place?" Yuan asked.

"It's not very impressive, is it?" Chala spat.

"Hey! It's a very nice place to live!"

"Cheresea, your excuse is ALWAYS it's 'nice'."

"She's got you there," Kratos said.

Hmph. Jerks.

...Well anyway, we landed in the backyard since there were only three rheairds and put them back in the wing pack. Kratos and Yuan looked around as Dad turned toward us.

"Okay, you guys stay put, I'm going to go tell Colette and Dad we're here."

"Okay," I nodded, "tell Mom I'm sorry..."

Dad kinda smiled at me and then walked inside the house.

"...Tell Dad?" Yuan raised an eyebrow. "But older Kratos is at the other place..."

Oops.

"Lloyd also has a 'foster' father," Chala stated.

"Foster-?" Kratos stammered, then growled. "What, so I get to be a shitty father? Great. Wonderful."

"W-what-!? You're not a bad father or a grandfather!" I cried. "It's just...well, what happened wasn't your fault at all! Gramps Dirk kinda had to take care of Dad for a while...but-!"

"Dirk? What kinda name is that?" Yuan blinked.

"Shut up-!"

"Dirk, huh?" Kratos glared. "...It's for the best, I guess, I'd be a crappy father."

"You're not a-!" I started again.

"Any father who isn't there for their kid is CRAPPY!" he snapped at me.

I kinda backed up a bit and he stuffed his hands in his pockets to sulk some more. ...He really looked like he hated himself... But that's not... that's not...

"...You were always there for me, if that makes it...any better," I muttered.

He ignored me.

"...Oooookay! Now that that's over," Yuan said, "hey, Chala, this 'Colette' person, who exactly is she?"

"My mom," I said.

"Yes, and I should warn you, she's rather...blond," Chala stated.

"What does her hair have to do with anything?" I frowned.

...Why are they looking at me like that?

"Okay, guys," Dad called, coming outside, "you can come in now."

"Great!" I chirped.

I hope Mom wasn't too worried...

"Cheresea!" she chirped as soon as I walked in. "Oh thank goodness, I was worried about you!"

"I-I'm sorry, Mom..." I blushed.

She smiled at me before she looked at the others.

"And it's Chala and...ah..."

Kratos and Yuan kinda fidgeted as Mom looked at them.

"...You, yes, Kratos - um, I was told about you," she smiled a bit.

"Huh, I see where Cheresea gets her eyes," Yuan noted.

"And her blond moments..." Kratos muttered.

"Blond moments?" Mom and I blinked.

"So, they're here already, aye?"

"HOLY CRAP-!"

"A DWARF?!"

Oh yeah... I guess Kratos and Yuan have never met one.

"Uh...yeah," Lloyd laughed, "this is Dirk, he...uh...well."

"I told them already," Chala said.

"Oh, okay then,"

Gramps Dirk smiled at me a minute before looking at Kratos and Yuan, who were gaping at him like idiots. Gramps Dirk laughed with a big grin.

"I take it you lads have never met a dwarf, eh?" he smiled.

He stuck out his big hand towards them suddenly, causing Yuan to back-step.

"Nice to meetcha," he grinned.

"...Uh...yeah," Kratos slowly took his hand, "nice to meet you too- AGH-!"

Gramps Dirk shook his hand really hard, grinning.

"Welcome, Kratos," he smiled.

Huh-? Oh yeah, Grampa told Mom and him already... why do I keep forgetting that?

"An you're Yuan, right?" Gramps Dirk turned to Yuan.

"Oooowwwww...gods damn it..." Kratos muttered, clutching his hand.

"Uh...yeah," he nodded, "I uh...hi."

Gramps raised and eyebrow.

"Not the handshake type, eh? Then, yar older self isn't much either,"

Yuan kinda looked offended.

"So...this is your house?" Kratos asked me, looking around.

"Yep!" I chirped. "Mom and Dad's room is down that hall, Gramps Dirk's rooms by the shop-"

"Shop? You have a shop?" Yuan raised an eyebrow.

I nodded.

"Yep! Gramps Dirk and Dad are blacksmiths!" I chirped. "See? Gramps made this sword..."

I pulled out the vorpal sword and showed it to him.

Yuan whistled. "Damn, that's pretty good looking..."

"What's it MADE of...?" Kratos stared at it.

"My finest work," Gramps Dirk smiled, "I forged it for Lloyd originally, but he passed it on to Cheresea to use. I'm sure she'll use it as well as her father someday."

Someday? Aw, come on, Gramps Dirk...

"So where's your room?" Kratos asked me as I put away the sword.

"Huh? Upstairs, we've got two rooms up there,"

"Who uses the other one?"

"Grampa does! I mean...the other Grampa," I kind of blushed a little.

"Oh," Kratos said.

...Is it just me, or does he get mad everytime I mention him...?

"H-hey! I have an idea!"

"Another one?" I heard Kratos mutter.

"Dad! Gramps! Can I show them the shop, please? Pretty please?"

"Well, you might as well," Dad smiled.

"I got no problem with it," Gramps said.

"SWEET! C'mon, let's go!"

I grabbed Kratos' arm and dashed off.

"What-? Hey!"  
I ignored him when we got into the shop, the place where Dad and Gramps forge stuff and take orders and stuff. I always liked going in there, there was always something being built or melted or something. Then there was even the figurines and customizations Dad made. He really liked making figurines.

"See?" I said.

"Huh..." Kratos looked around, "...I've never been in a place like this."

"You wouldn't have," Yuan rolled his eyes.

Kratos punched him in the arm again.

"Look, this is my favorite!" I ran over to the cabinet Dad kept his figurines in. "See? My Dad makes these!"

In the cabinet he has a bunch of figurines and a 'figurine book' which lists all of them. Then there's a lot of pellets he uses to make them, though I'm not quite sure how. I looked through and pulled out one of Presea to show them.

"See?" I said. "This is my friend Jeremy's mom."

"Woah," Yuan took it, "look at the detail in this sucker..."

"And there's some of birds and cats and stuff," I said, pulling out another one, "this one's Genis."

"Hey, Yuan," Kratos smirked, "look what I found."

He pulled out a figurine of the older Yuan...in a tux? Huh, when did he where that...?

"Oh GODS!" Yuan spat. "Why the hell would I wear something that formal!?"

Yuan took it and looked at it a bit, like he was mad...then he smirked.

"But _damn_ I am one sexy motherfucker!" he purred.

"You wish."

"AH-! When did you get in here?!" Yuan yelped, almost dropping the figurine.

Chala raised an eyebrow.

"About fifteen seconds ago," she said.

"Hey," Kratos said, "here's one of that silver-haired lady..."

Chala looked at him as he picked up the Raine one but said nothing.

"I wonder if there's- WOAH! Hey KRATOS! Check THIS out!" Yuan grinned evilly.

It's a figurine of Grampa in that 'Judgment' outfit looking like he's about to kill someone.

"Get that thing out of my face, NOW," Kratos glared at Yuan.

Yuan laughed and bobbed the figurine in his face.

"Hey! Lookit me!" he made his voice deep-sounding. "I'm so cool with my swallow-cape!"

"Can it, ponytail!"

"Both of you knock it off," Chala glared. "It's annoying."

"Uh...maybe we should look at something else-"

"Oh! Oh! I've got an idea!" Yuan took the figurine of 'him'. "We should totally make 'em fight!"

"...You want to play with dolls?" Kratos said flatly.

"What? They're more like action figures-"

"Still, Yuan, that's like third grade kind of stuff-"

"Then you should be really good at it, you took third grade twice!"

Kratos punched him in the gut.

"OW-! SON OF A-!!" Yuan spat.

"...Nice form," Chala said.

"See that? CHALA is complimenting me for hitting YOU. What now?"

"Shut up..." Yuan grunted, holding his gut.

"Wow, you hit him a lot," I said.

"Think of it this way," Chala whispered to me, "later they try to kill each other a lot."

...That's not nice. Really, it isn't.

"Well, whatever," Kratos rolled his eyes, "though I gotta say your D- d-"

Kratos stammered a bit and scrunched up his face, like something was hurting him.

"...Kratos? Are you okay?" I asked.

"Wh-? Yeah, yeah, sorry about that," he shook his head, "your Dad makes cool stuff- SHUT UP!"

W-what? Shut up? Why is he telling me to shut up? I didn't say anything...is he okay?

"W-what? N-no! I didn't mean you-" he stammered, "I just- I-"

He jolted and scrunched up his face again. I'm really worried now...

"Kratos?" I put my hand on his shoulder. "Are you-?"

"GAH!" he shouted. "DAMMIT! DON'T TOUCH ME!!"

I instantly drew back.

W...what...? Why is he looking at me like that? What did I do? What's wrong?

"Kratos-!" Yuan blurted. "Kratos, get a hold of yourself-!"

"What's going on?!" Chala snapped at him.

"SHUT UP!" Kratos shouted, clutching his head.

"Kratos-!"

Kratos fell over and Yuan ran forward and grabbed his arms before he hit the ground. Chala and I ran over as Yuan began swearing under his breath while he laid Kratos down on the floor.

"Is he okay!? What happened?! Why did he do that-!? Is he-?!"

"Look, he'll be fine, okay?" Yuan snapped at me. "We just need to put him somewhere so he can rest-"

Chala went to pick Kratos up.

"Hey, what are you doing-?"

"Moving him, what does it look like?" she said.

"You can't lift h-"

Chala picked Kratos up with about as much effort as it took me to blink.

"...Whathabagamagba..." Yuan blabbered.

"Cheresea, is it okay if we put him in your grandfather's room?" Chala asked me.

"Wha-? Sure, Grampa won't mind- ...It kind of is his room anyway..."

Chala began to walk away and Yuan followed her...

"Wait! But what's wrong with him!? Why did he do that?!"

"Look, you're better off not knowing, but he'll be fine, okay?" Yuan said to me.

...Why is everyone always keeping secrets from me...?

Dad met us while we got back into the house.

"Guys, are you okay? We heard-" he stopped, "what's wrong with-!?"

"He passed out, we're not quite sure why," Chala told him.

"What?! What happened?!" Dad said.

"It'd be best to get him somewhere to rest first, don't you think?" she said.

"Huh-? O-of course...this way,"

We went upstairs while Mom and Gramps Dirk started asking what happened.

Chala told them the same thing and was still telling them that as Dad took Kratos from here and laid him down on Grampa's bed. Then Dad moved aside and Chala took his temperature and pulse, frowning a bit before turning to Yuan.

"What's wrong with him?" she spat.

"W-what? He-"

"You said 'he'll be fine', so this must happen regularly," she hissed.

...What? Grampa- I mean, Kratos, passes out a lot? Why? Is he sick?

"Uh - well - when I said that-"

Me and Mom yelped when Kratos turned over suddenly and snapped out something I didn't understand then started growling while he was still unconscious.

"...Kratos...?" I said.

He looked like he was having a really bad nightmare or something. His fists were clenched, his teeth were gritted, his skin was pale and he was sweating, like he was scared to death but mad at something at the same time.

"L-look, it's nothing, he's just-" Yuan said.

"Shut up...shut up..." Kratos muttered.

"What happened?" Dad glared at the three of us. "Well?"

"W-we were just looking at the figurines, and then he-"

"He began twitching and yelling shut up when no one was talking," Chala said, "then when Cheresea touched his shoulder he told us not to touch him and passed out."

"...What?" Dad said. "...But why-"

"I could only assume he is schizophrenic."

...Huh?

"No he's-"

"What does that mean?"

"Simply put, he hears voices,"

"...Wait...you mean...my Grampa is insane?" I said.

"Look, as much as I would LOVE to say he is, he isn't," Yuan said, "it's just...look, it's complicated, and he didn't want anyone to know because - well, duh. ...He especially didn't want you two to figure it out, if I know him, and I do."

He pointed at me and Dad when he said that.

"..." Dad bit his lip and looked at Kratos, frowning.

"...So...what's wrong with him?" I asked.

"...Uh...well...I really don't know," Yuan said.

"You don't-?!" I blurted. "But-!"

"Look, he's done this for a while, he starts shouting and then does this..." he looked at Kratos, "but he'll be fine after a little while, as long as we leave him alone-"

"So does he hear voices or not?" Chala spat.

"...Voice, he hears a 'voice'," Yuan admitted.

...He hears a voice?

"Wait, so...the same one? Everytime?"

"Yes, or at least that's what he tells me,"

...Grampa...what was wrong with him? Why was there always something wrong with him-?

Kratos jolted up right, panting with his eyes wide open.

"Kratos-!?"

"N-no-! No leave me alone-! It's weak- ning- we- st- no-"

"Snap out of it!" Dad said, back-handing him.

"OW-! BAST-! Dammit, Lloyd! What the HELL!? Why'd you hit me?!"

Oh good! He's back to normal! I was worried...

"Ow...wh- ...Wait! What happened?!" he blurted. "Where-?"

"You're in my Grampa's room," I said, "you, uh...kinda fainted."

"Fainted-?" he looked really pale again. "Oh SHIT! What did I say-!?"

"You didn't-" I started.

"What, pray tell, is 'weakening'?" Chala glared.

Kratos said a certain phrase so loudly Mom covered my ears.

"Look- I- well- FUCK! Dammit, Yuan-! You could've covered for me-!"

"And tell them WHAT?!" Yuan shouted at him. "It's not exactly easy to make an excuse for THAT!"

"W-! Well-!"

"It's okay," Mom said.

"What?" Kratos looked at her.

"...If it's something you're sure you don't want to tell us, we'll pretend it didn't happen,"

"...Wait...so...you don't think I'm insane?"

"Grampa isn't insane," I said, "so I know you can't be either."

Kratos didn't seem convinced by my logic, apparently.

"What the-? Nevermind," he sighed, shaking his head, "...look, I'm SORRY, but it's not like I can help it- That is... Look, I TRIED to keep you guys from finding out, but-"

"We already said, you don't have to explain it to us," Dad said.

"Are YOU all insane?" he glared at us. "How can you all act like this is normal?!"

"Because frankly, stranger stuff happens with us," Chala closed her eyes, rubbing her temple.

Kratos snorted.

"Yeah, like what?"

"The list would be too long to explain in less than twenty four hours," Chala stated.

"...Whatever,"

Kratos laid back down and rolled onto his side so he faced the wall.

"Kratos-?" I started.

"I know you all REALLY think I'm insane, and I don't blame you, so just... leave me alone, okay?"

"But-" I said.

"Leave!" he snapped.

"Hey! Don't you shout at her like that!" Dad snapped.

"Yeah, whatever, keep your precious little girl away from me, you wouldn't want me to leave an impression."

Oh dear, I don't like where this is going at all...

Dad glared at him but didn't say anything. Mom looked around before she slowly headed for the door like Kratos asked, Gramps Dirk followed her and Chala did shortly after. Dad kept glaring at Kratos and Yuan fidgeted a bit.

"...He...he'll get over it," Yuan said to Dad and me, whispering, "...it's best just to leave him alone."

"...Right," Dad sighed, "...come on, Cheresea."

I looked at Kratos one last time and left with Dad. Yuan walked out with us, which surprised me; I was certain that he would stay and try to talk to him for a bit.

"...You really don't know what's-?" I started.

Yuan sighed.

"Look, honestly, I have no clue," he muttered, "...but between you and me..."

Dad and I both stopped to look at him.

"...I know it's not just he's crazy," he said, "I'm sure Chala noticed it too. His mana gets really out of whack whenever that happens, and usually mana doesn't react to thoughts or anything going on that's just in the brain or whatever. Whatever happens to him during those fits, it's not just all in his head. There's something more to it."

"...He must be scared a lot..." I muttered.

"Say what?" Yuan stared at me.

"...Well, if that kind of stuff happens and he doesn't know why, that must scare him, right?"

I fingered where a cut on my arm had happened a while back, the place where Trethe told me he stabbed Nagas. If anyone knew what it was like to have weird stuff happen to you, it was us.

"...You're weird," Yuan said, walking further down the steps.

"Hey!" I said.

Even though I had just admitted that...

We stayed downstairs for about five minutes before we heard footsteps.

"Yep, Kratos should be done with his sulking about now..." Yuan nodded.

Kratos came out at the end of the stairs and looked at all of us a minute before looking away and going off to the corner of the room, brooding. Yuan sighed and walked over to him while Mom shook her head.

"Oh dear...I hope he feels better," she said.

Man...how come nothing ever works out good around here? Seriously! I wish he wouldn't get all moody...he acts too much like Grampa when he does that- ...Okay, I just put my foot in my mouth, but whatever...

Huh? Someone's at the door, I think.

"Oh? I wonder who that is...?"  
Mom walked up to the door and opened it before she smiled.

"Oh, hello!" she chirped.

What? I wonder who-?

"Fret not, my darling hunnies! The Great Trethe Wilder has arrived!"

**Freaky: Sklee. X3**

**Cheresea: Uh-oh...**

**Kratos: ...Who's that supposed to be?**

**Spork: Hehehe...**


	9. Polite Interrogations

Kratos: Zzzz...

Spork: Wake up you lazy butt, the chapter's going to start soon.

Cheresea: Um... Freakyanimegal and Holy Spork own nothing. n.n'

Freaky: CHICKENS!...Sorry, random moment. n.n'

Cheresea:...

**

* * *

Past Spirits**

**Chapter Nine: Polite Interrogation**

**Young Kratos' P.O.V.**

Oh, for the love of crap!

"Did anyone miss me?" asked the black-haired chick as she walked into the house.

Is there some kinda quota? I have to meet at least two crazy girls every damn day in the future? Will the universe explode if I meet someone sane?

"T-Trethe!" Stuttered Cheresea. She and everyone else looked surprised to see this new person.

"I," began the new girl, Trethe, suddenly serious. "Heard that there was something up and I thought I should see if you were all right." Then she grinned again. "My darling hunnies!"

Cheresea blushed and Chala looked indignant. I glared at Trethe - I don't like her, and after my little 'fainting' spell, I'm about ready to kill someone.

Trethe finally glanced in my direction, spotting me and Yuan. Her jaw dropped open.

I rolled my eyes, and decided to go ahead and explain things before Trethe feels the need to ask.

"_Yes_, my name is Kratos Aurion, and that is Yuan Kafei - stupidest last name ever, right? - we _are_ from the past, we _are_ the younger versions of Cheresea's grandfather and Chala's dad, we're waiting around for _someone_ to make or fix a time machine, the cake _wasn't _a lie, Rosebud was the _sled_, and no, I _don't_ know Oyashiro-sama. Anything else you want to know, or is your jaw broken?"

Trethe closed her mouth, then opened it again. Apparently her jaw _was_ broken.

I crossed my arms. "When you're done ogling, you can leave."

Trethe blinked. "What are you talking about?"

"I said get lost!" I shouted, getting to my feet.

"You can't decide that! This isn't your house!"

Dammit, I forgot Lloyd was here.

"I guess someone is in a bad mood today," Trethe said, clearly trying to make fun of me.

"I just don't like random crazy women constantly walking into my life and messing stuff up!" I snapped.

Everyone stared at me, looking confused.

"But..." Cheresea began, sounding awkward, "Trethe is a boy..."

What the fu - ?

"Waitwaitwait...Trethe is a GUY?! How the hell can that _thing_ be a guy?!"

Trethe looked insulted. "How could you have mistaken me for a woman?" he demanded, flipping that absurd, _feminine_, black hair of his. "I am the epitome of manliness!"

"And Kratos is the Queen of Candyland..." Yuan muttered, loud enough so only I heard him.

"Yuan, do you want me to strangle you with your own ponytail, or will you staple your mouth shut for me?" I hissed at him.

"Geez, aren't we in a graphically violent mood today," Yuan said, a stupid grin on his face.

"Shut up," I muttered.

"...Well isn't today a strange day..." Trethe began, bewildered.

"Um... why don't we explain?" Cheresea began, looking over at Chala. She nodded at her friend. Cheresea waved at Trethe, motioning for him to come with her. Raising an eyebrow at me and Yuan, Trethe turned and followed her - damn, I mean, _his_ friends, probably waiting for a good explanation from Cheresea and Chala.

Lloyd turned to glare at me and Yuan.

"Look, we really don't think you're crazy," Lloyd began, talking to me, "but acting like a jerk isn't going to help you disprove that."

"Like you care..." I muttered.

Lloyd opened his mouth, apparently ready to yell again, but finally realized that I wasn't going to listen to him, so he just shut up.

So now not only am I surrounded by crazy people, I'm surrounded by crazy people who think it's fun to not fill me in on important info. Especially not my older self. You'd think he'd be at least a little sympathetic, but _noooooo... _the man seems to have a shriveled little black speck rather than a soul.

Stupid cryptic old freak...

Then there was the stuff he said back at Altamira... when he took me away from the others to ask me some questions.

"_So, um..." I shrugged, wondering why he had dragged me into an alley to talk "What do you want?"_

"_Have you had any passing out instances lately?"_

_The old man asked the question so directly, it caught me off-guard._

"_W-what?" I stammered. "Uhm...no."_

"_I see." My older self paused. "What about the voice? Has it spoken recently?"_

_I shook my head. "Not lately. So do you know what it is? Can you tell me?"_

_Maybe I can finally have some answers..._

"_No." He turned away, ready to leave. "Stay as far away from the others as possible until I find the appropriate remedy, understood? Let's go."_

_I blinked - he just questioned me, but wasn't going to give me any answers? "Huh-? Wait what?!" He just kept walking away; he was ignoring me. "But I want to know-!"_

"_Not a possibility," the old man snapped without even looking back at me._

Then Yuan interrupted my thoughts.

"What'd you say?" I snapped at him, since I didn't catch exactly what he said.

"Don't like Trethe hitting on your granddaughter, do ya?" Yuan repeated.

I muttered darkly to myself.

"Well then," Yuan began with an evil grin on his face, "it seems to me that you have every right to, you know, ask Trethe about himself."

I looked up at the mad half-elf, and noticed his 'I'm Plotting Something Evil' grin. "What are you planning?"

Yuan feigned innocence. "Oh... I dunno. Maybe we could just have a quick chat with that Trethe guy. Find out what you want to find out. But of course," he added, "he probably won't be totally honest. We have to take him to a place where no one can possibly hear him screaming."

I blinked; is this guy planning what I think he's planning?

"Are you suggesting we kidnap him?"

Yuan shrugged. "Oh... I dunno..." He grinned. "Maybe."

* * *

I should stop listening to the mad half-elf.

I really should.

"Explain to me again why we're hiding in a bush, while Trethe is _inside Cheresea's house_?"

"We're going to wait until he comes out, then we kidnap him, then we drag him off to the middle of the forest, far enough that no one will hear him scream, and question him about his intents regarding your future granddaughter," Yuan explained, all in one breath. "It's simple, really."

"Do you know exactly what we're going to do when and if he leaves the house?"

"Of course I do!"

"Oh yay, are you going to tell me?"

"...As soon as I think of a plan."

Great...

So we sat there, for what felt like hours. Actually, we probably did sit there for hours. It was boring.

"...One hundred bottles of beer on the wall, one hundred bottles of - "

"If you start singing that song, Kratos, then not even the gods will keep me from killing you."

"Fine."

We waited some more. I wonder if anyone inside has noticed that we've vanished yet.

Then we heard Trethe's voice:

"Then I'll see you hunnies later!"

He walked out of the house, turned to wave back through the door (probably at Cheresea), closed the door and walked outside.

"_Now _do you have an idea?" I asked Yuan.

"I'm working on it! Don't rush me!"

"...And you're supposed to be the smart one..." I muttered.

"If you're feeling so great then, why don't you think of a plan?" Yuan snapped.

So I did.

I looked around and quickly found what I was looking for: a medium-sized rock.

Trethe started to rummage in a pocket - maybe for a wing pack and a rheaird. I slowly tried to walk up to him from behind, hoping he wouldn't turn around or look up.

Three guesses what happened when I got within arm's reach.

Trethe fell like a rock.

Yuan walked out of the bushes, looking surprisingly happy.

"So you resorted to unnecessary violence, huh?" He began, smugly. "That is your style anyway."

I started feeling nervous about this whole thing. I didn't hit Trethe too hard, but now that we've reached this stage I'm not sure it's such a good idea anymore.

"...Why do I feel like I just committed murder?"

"Oh, suck it up human, and help me drag him into the forest! We don't want anyone to find us while we're having our little 'chat', right?"

So I did.

* * *

When Trethe woke up (after about three million years), he looked around blearily, probably wondering why he was in the middle of the forest.

Then he spotted us.

"...Where am I?" Trethe said.

"Someplace," Yuan said, cryptically.

"You... you _kidnapped _me?!" Trethe demanded. "I _am_ a ninja, you know!" Trethe shouted

_"_Really _crappy_ ninja, then..." Yuan smirked

"Who cares?" I said, shrugging. "Besides, pirates are better anyway."

Trethe deflated, apparently unable to think of any other verbal retorts_ t_hough I think he muttered something about pirates being sissies in ridiculous tights. Then he glanced nervously between me and Yuan, probably wondering what the hell we were going to do with him.

"Don't worry," Yuan began, smirking, "we won't hurt you too much."

Trethe glanced from me to Yuan and back again.

"...What's up with you guys?" He asked, apparently freaked out.

"Since you kept hitting on Cheresea," I began, "I think it's only fair that I should know who the hell you are."

Trethe raised an eyebrow. "You're interrogating me?"

"Pretty much," said Yuan.

"What makes you think I'll tell you guys anything?" Trethe snapped. "It's none of your business! I mean, you're from the past, right? You'll get a chance to scare me in the future! You don't have to do it _now_!"

"C'mon Trethe Boy," Yuan began, putting an arm around the wannabe ninja's shoulders. "Just tell us what we want to know, and I won't have to hammer any iron nails into your hands."

Trethe gaped at Yuan, horrified.

"Y-your joking right?" Trethe began, sweating a little. "About the hammer thing?"

Yuan glanced at me out of the corner of his eye.

"Got any nails?"

"W-w-wait a minute!" Trethe stammered. "I'll talk! I'll talk! Just don't hurt me!"

"Okay then," Yuan stepped away from the victim. He waved an arm at Trethe. "He's all yours, Kratos."

"You're a sick bastard, you know that Yuan?"

"Just ask him the questions, human."

I sat down in front of Trethe, wondering now what exactly I want to ask him. I didn't really think about it until now.

"Um..." I started, feeling like this 'interrogation' would go nowhere fast. "What's your interest in Cheresea?"

Trethe blinked. "That's all you wanted to know?" he began, bewildered. "If you had wanted to know that so bad, you could've just _asked_, you know."

"Just answer the question," I said, trying to be patient.

"Um... she's a friend?"

"Just as a friend?"

"Sure." Trethe relaxed, confident that he was going to make it through this interrogation without any bodily harm. "That's all she is."

"And you have no impure intentions regarding her?"

"No," Trethe said with a straight face.

**_He's lying._**

"You're lying."

Trethe blinked. "Huh?"

"I know your type," I snarled, "You think you can do whatever you like, no matter what or who you hurt. You take everything you can and discard people like trash."

"That's not true!" Trethe objected.

**_The bastard is lying._**

"_You're lying_!" I shouted.

Trethe flinched, and out of the corner of my eye I saw Yuan flinch too.

**_Make him tell the truth._**

I flinched too. I can't believe I didn't even notice the voice until now. Oh gods no, not now... not now...

...Even if I do agree...

"W-what's up with you all of a sudden?" Trethe demanded. Then he just seemed angry. "So you hit me on the head and dragged me into the middle of the forest, just to yell at me?"

"Well, you are the one who keeps hitting on our future descendants!" snapped Yuan. He seemed kinda nervous though, he's looking me me funny...

"Look, I'm not going to do anything bad to anyone!" Trethe snapped. "So just leave me alone!

Then Trethe _snarled_.

He had fangs and everything.

Yuan and I jumped back, wondering if Trethe was going to leap at us and start eating our heads. But he didn't, he just looked surprised, and maybe a little... scared?

"W-what the hell?" Yuan said, his eyes really wide.

Then Trethe ran off, his hands covering his mouth.

Yuan started to run in his direction., "Stop it Yuan."

He looked back at me, bewildered. "But he's getting away!"

"Just let him go."

"But - !"

"Just let him go," I repeated, still thinking about what had just happened.

Fangs...?

Those weren't just large teeth Trethe suddenly sprouted, those were definitely _fangs_.

I wonder if... he's like me?

I mean I never randomly sprouted big pointy teeth, but...

**Different.**

I flinched again, and Yuan looked nervous. Dammit, I don't need this now.

**Different.**

...What's that voice saying...?

**Fox Spirit.**

...Huh?

"I think that went wonderfully." Yuan said, interrupting my train of thought, and probably trying to lighten the mood.

"Shut up or I'll rip out your spine and beat you with it."

* * *

Spork: Hey Kratos, are you sure you don't know Oyashi -

Kratos: Just be quiet. (-Mutters darkly to himself-)

Cheresea: Who? O.o

Freaky: Heck if I know...O.o... Review? n.n' If we are worthy? (Puppy eyes)


	10. Alterations

**Freaky: ...It's only nine...and I'm tired....O.o...**

**Cheresea: Well, the days are shorter now...**

**Freaky Note : This chapter it'll totally deviate from 'Tasks of Spirit', okay? It's just a spinoff anyway, so...n.n' Y'know, it'll be fun...and **

**stuff...I guess. **

**Holy Spork: Yes, please keep in mind this is supposed to be fun, m'kay?  
**

_Past Spirits_

_Chapter Ten: Alterations _

_Cheresea's P.O.V~_

"Guys!" I called. "Guuuuyss! Kratos! Yuan!"

Where were they? I hadn't seen them since Trethe left...I hope nothing bad happened.

"Dad, have you seen Kratos and Yuan?" I asked.

Dad barely opened his mouth when Chala came down the stairs, frowning.

"I haven't seen them either," Chala stated, "...perhaps they went outside."

"Right!" I said.

I raced outside and looked out just in time to see both of them coming back toward the house. Oh good! They're okay-! ..Wait, did they go

somewhere? And why do they look kinda...disturbed?

"Guys?" I asked. "Are you okay? What happened?"

"What IS that guy?!" Yuan asked.

Huh?

Kratos covered Yuan's mouth.

"Don't listen to him, he's a dumbass," he said.

Yuan glared at him as Chala walked up to us.

"Really? ...What 'guy' are you referring to, may I ask?" she asked coldly.

"I told you, he's-" Kratos started.

"Cheresea may be dim enough to fall for that, I however, am not," Chala hissed.

"Hey-!" I shouted.

Kratos glared at Chala, and for a minute I could've sworn he was Grampa-...which he is, of course, but...er, nevermind. He looked really scary,

let's just say, even Chala fidgeted a little.

"...We're going inside, come on, Yuan," he said.

"W-what? But-"

Kratos glared at him instead.

"I'm going, I'm going!"

Yuan and Kratos walked right past us into the house. Once Chala had a second to recover she shook her head and followed them, I'm pretty

sure she was going to give them hell, but...

"Cheresea,"

"Huh?"

I turned around, nothing behind me but trees.

"...What-?"

"Cheresea, in here, help," the voice said.

What the-? Who...? I don't know anyone who...

"Psst! C'mon, help!" it said.

"Trethe?" I blinked. "What are you doing in there-?"

I saw a tail twitch.

...Oh...

"Trethe? Are you okay?" I said, walking into the woods.

"Of course I'm not 'okay'!! Look at me!"

"Where are you then...?" I said slowly while I walked in further.

I felt someone tap my shoulder and turned around.

"Woah-!"

He covered my mouth.

"Okay okay, I know, just keep it down!!" he said.

Trethe had a tail...? ...And ears? Sure, I'd seen the fangs before, and I'd seen him 'fox' before, but I hadn't seen him in between like this. ...With

cute little ears and a bushy tail...

"I-...are you blushing?" he stared at me.

I shook my head as he slowly took his hands off my mouth-...claws? Since when?

"What happened?" I asked. "I thought you were going home-?"

"I was!" he said. "I was and then they mugged me! ...Well, okay, they didn't 'mug' me but-"

"Who mugged you?" I stared.

"Those two dicks inside!" he pointed toward the house. "Kratos fucking knocked me out and then-!"

"Kratos and Yuan knocked you out?" I said slowly.

"Yes-!"

"Aren't you supposed to be a ninja?" I asked.

His eye twitched.

"Th-that's beside the point-"

"So two boys your age without any training whatsoever...came up behind a ninja with angel senses...and knocked him out..." I said even more

slowly, beginning to get worried.

"...I was having an off moment!" he snapped, flushing a bit.

I'll say- wait, they knocked him out?

"Why'd they knock you out?!" I asked.

"Because they asked me about-...uh...they just wanted to ask me stuff," he finished.

"...Stuff?" I tilted my head to the side.

"...Yeah, just stuff, that's not important though!" he said. "The jerks threatened me and then Kratos- geez, no offense, but did you know your

grampa is totally nuts?! He started shouting at me for no reason!"

"Uh-huh..." I said.

"...What's with that look?"

"For no reason?" I stated flatly.

"YES for no reason!" his eye began to twitch. "And he- he-!"

He looked down at the ground, his teeth gritted.

"...I...I got mad, and then this started happening to me..."

"What-? They didn't see, did they?" I asked, worried.

"...They saw the teeth," he muttered, "...but then they let me go. ...Well, Kratos let me go. ...Something's not right with him, Cheresea, did you

know that?"

"What do you mean by that?!" I snapped. "There's nothing wrong with-!!"

..Well, okay, he did hear voices and all...but...but there had to be an explanation for that! Right?

"Oh wake UP!" Trethe scoffed. "He's...he's creepy, Cheresea, that's the best way I can put it. Sure, he's creepy enough in this time, but he's

actually..."

He stopped suddenly and one of his ears twitched.

"Aw SH-!"

"Huh-?"

"I KNEW IT!"

Trethe jumped and hid behind me. Kratos had just found us-? ...Oh no.

"I KNEW it!" he shouted again, pointing at Trethe. "You-!"

"You try to grab me and I'll gouge your eyes out, got it?" Trethe snarled.

Kratos started to say something and then just barely noticed I was here.

"...Cheresea, get away from him," he said darkly.

"What? Why?" I asked.

"Because...because just get away from him!" he said

"Please, just calm down-" I started.

"What is your PROBLEM with me?!" Trethe snapped.

"Listen, fox boy, I-"

"FOX BOY!?"

Trethe walked up to him, glaring.

"Call me that again, I dare ya, tough-guy..." he snarled...quite literally.

"Fox. Boy." Kratos said, glaring right back at him.

Oh no. That's not good.

"That's it-!"

Trethe went to hit Kratos right when I tried to get in between them. And, of course, because I suck like that I got hit...and then tripped and fell

on the ground.

"Ouch-!" I said.

"Cheresea-!" Trethe blurted. "Are-?!"

"Are you okay?!" Kratos asked, helping me up.

"Y-yeah...I'm sorry," I smiled, trying not to wince. It did hurt a bit...

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-" Trethe started.

Kratos glared at him.

"You BASTARD!" he snapped.

"I didn't mean to-!"

"Please don't-!" I started.

"I'll kick your ass for that!" Kratos snarled.

"I TOLD you I didn't mean to-!"

Kratos flinched, like something hurt him.

"SHUT UP!"

Then he punched Trethe in the face. Hard. I yelped.

"You little putz, I knew I should have chased you off when I had the chance!" he snapped.

Kratos flinched again, shaking his head. Trethe was already on his feet- ...well actually, all fours.

"I'm going to beat you into the ground!!!" he snarled.

I saw him lunge for Kratos and I began to shout at him to stop-...and then Kratos had his hand around Trethe's throat? I stared and then

rubbed my eyes before looking back. What?! How did-?!

"Oh my g..." I gaped.

Kratos' hand was all...scaly...black scales, like a dragon or something. Trethe stared at him like I did, both of us were completely shocked.

Kratos noticed, obviously.

"...Wh...what are you staring at?!" he snapped at Trethe.

He looked at his hand and then gasped.

"Kratos...?" I whispered.

He looked at me-

And his pupils were slitted.

"...Oh my g..." I whispered.

Kratos gasped and then let go of Trethe, who stood there staring at him. I knew I shouldn't have stared, I know that would just make it worse,

but...but this didn't make sense. Why was he...?

"D-don't look at me-!" Kratos stammered, moving backward.

"Kratos-" I started.

He turned and began to run off when Trethe grabbed him.

"Woah woah! Hold on a minute-!"

"Let me go-!"

Trethe snarled and then grabbed his shoulders with both hand, turning him to look at him.

"I SAID hold on!" Trethe roared. "Look, we're not gonna-"

"Don't-!" Kratos looked away.

"Don't look at you?! Are you crazy!? Look at ME!" he shouted. "I've got a tail, and EARS! If we're not freaking out about this, what makes you

think we'll treat you any different?! What makes you think I'm gonna call you a freak or something when I look like this?!"

"Y-you- Just- just shut up!" he shouted.

"Listen you-"

"SHUT UP AND LET ME GO YOU DAMN PRETTY-BOY PIMP!"

"Just-!"

Kratos broke free and then when to hit Trethe with his...'hand'...

"Wait-!" I started.

"Agh-!"

"WOAH!"

Trethe jumped backwards and I almost fell over (yes, standing up...) when Grampa appeared out of nowhere and grabbed Kratos, holding him

back with an arm around his torso.

"H-hey! Let me go yo-!"

Grampa quickly took a small object and put it to Kratos' mouth, forcing him to drink the stuff that was in it- Hey, that stuff was...Genis gave

Grampa a thing of that stuff once.

"B-BLEGH!" Kratos spat. "What the hell was that?! Are you trying to poison me or-?!"

"I told you to stay away from them, did I not?" Grampa hissed at him.

"W-what-? Well I-!...Hey..."

Kratos looked at his hand and we all watched as it...melted. Well, it didn't really melt, but it kinda...shifted, shifted and then it looked just like a

normal hand again. He gasped.

"W-what the-? How did you-? What was that stuff?!" he asked.

While they were distracted I noticed Trethe trying to sneak off-

"Trethe," Grampa spoke up, "I'd advise you not to move."

Trethe stopped right in his tracks.

"What was-!? Where did you come from anyway?!" Kratos snapped up at Grampa.

"From elsewhere, obviously," he stated.

"...What just happened?" I asked.

Everyone looked at me and I found myself unable to say anything else. I was confused...why did Kratos have a hand like that? And the eyes

like...? I didn't understand what was going on.

"...Cheresea, go inside," Grampa said, "now."

"B-But..." I looked at him, then at Kratos and Trethe.

"Just go," Grampa said again, "we'll be in right after you."

Well...I knew I wasn't going to get my way in this, so I'd have to listen to him for now...

But darn it, I WAS getting an explanation for this. One way or another!

**Cheresea: It's over? But I want to know what's going on!**

**Freaky: Patience is a virtue, you know. n.n'**

**Young Kratos: PATIENCE?! After all the stuff you're doing to me?!**

**Holy Spork: Pretty much, yeah.  
**


End file.
